Defying Destiny
by SakuraJade
Summary: A race of mutant monsters called arigami, a not so normal 17 yr old girl who is destined to stop them at the cost of her own life, and an organization bent on defying that destiny. No one counted on them falling in love. Could that love be the key?
1. The Kushinada's Unveiling

**A/N:** Hello dear readers. Welcome to another one of my AU CCS fanfics. I wrote this story a long time ago (originally it was titled All For The Fate of the World) but, like all my other stories, it was deleted from ff(dot)net. It was the only story I had posted at the time that was not finished (I was working on the final chapter when it was deleted, grrrr). About a year ago though, I found the old floppy disk it was saved on (I found it moving out of my college apt. since I graduated from grad school) and was able to get _most _of the chapters back so I decided to do a major overhaul and repost it. I've cleaned up the writing of course as I'm a better writer now, and I've added a lot of stuff (including CCS characters I didn't know about the first time I wrote this as I had only seen a few Japanese episodes and the first season of the English version) to make the plot more in depth. So if you read this before and liked it take another look because it's a lot better this time around and it will also be finished this time as well.

_Note:_For starters, this is an AU CCS Blue Seed crossover. I'm using the CCS gang, but I'm putting them in the Blue Seed world (no blue seed characters will be in the story, but I do barrow some of their names from time to time if need be). Since this is an AU story, the characters may be a little OOC at times, but nothing too major. Point being you don't need to have seen Blue Seed to read this.

_**Plot:**_ Sakura Kinomoto was your normal 17 year old girl living in Japan, a Japan being torn apart by a race of mutant plantlike monsters called arigami. She finds out that she isn't as normal as she thought she was though when the arigami come looking for her specifically. Turns out she's the kushinada, the one person that can destroy the arigami, saving Japan indefinitely, and ultimately the world. However, in order to release the power within her that can obliterate the arigami she must be sacrificed. Taking her life is a last resort, and an organization called the T.A.C. is trying to find a better way of killing the arigami then sacrificing Sakura. But if it comes down to it, they'll do what ever it takes to destroy the arigami, including using Sakura as a sacrifice because the needs of many outweigh the needs of one . . .

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

**Defying Destiny **

_Chapter 1: The Kushinada's Unveiling_

**Tokyo, the capital of Japan . . . **

A young woman in her early twenties sat hunched over a computer screen, her fingers flying over the keyboard in search of something, her long reddish gold hair draped over her shoulders. Though her face was calm, the jiggle of her denim jeans-clad knee betrayed the haste she was really in. She had been at it for hours – forgoing several hours of some much deserved sleep – perusing the Japanese government databases on the lookout for one single name among the millions. They had to find her, the fate of the world depended on it.

Talk about stress.

Suddenly, the name she had been scanning the files for revealed itself to her watchful eye. Unable to contain her excitement and relief, she shot out of her desk chair.

"I found her!" she cried out to no one in particular.

Another young lady, in her late teens, sat at a desk close by filling out a report. Incidentally, she now had a long line of pencil drawn through the middle of the page in response to her teammate's enthusiasm.

"Nakuru, would you please stop doing that?!"

Nakuru put a hand behind her head. "Sorry, Meilin, but I just got so excited!"

The girl named Meilin scowled slightly and began to erase the unwanted pencil mark. "You're always getting excited," she deadpanned.

As she said that, a young man, about the same age as Nakuru, with hair the color of espresso and matching eyes entered the room with a cup of coffee.

"About what?" he asked nonchalantly, taking a savory sip of his hot beverage.

"I found her, Toya!"

He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "No shit?"

"No, I really found the kushinada! Can you believe it?! Mr. Nakamura will be thrilled!" Nakuru's eyes started to shine as she moved toward Toya. "Aren't you proud of me, To-ya?" she asked, drawing out his name the way only she could.

He grimaced in response, sensing the beginnings of a glomping session. Before Nakuru could smoother him in a bone crushing hug, a man appeared in the doorway closely followed by a woman. The pair appeared to be in their late and mid 30s respectively.

The man gave a small wave before saying, "Good morning everybody. Anything worth reporting yet?"

Nakuru stepped forward, her attempts to hug Toya temporarily forgotten.

"You bet! I just located the kushinada, Mr. Nakamura!"

The woman who had entered with Fujitaka Nakamura spoke. "Really? That's excellent news. Nice work, Nakuru."

Nakuru smiled. "Thanks, Dr. Mizuki."

Two more people entered the big office room amidst the talking of the others. One was a young man with grayish sliver hair and glasses. He had a glazed doughnut in one hand and a box full of doughnuts in the other. He was accompanied by a younger man with messy chestnut colored hair and sharp amber eyes.

"Good morning everybody! Would anybody like a doughnut?" he offered.

"Uh, no thanks, Yukito," Meilin answered.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself," he said, and devoured the doughnut in his hand in one bite.

"So? Where is she?" Fujitaka pressed, getting back on the important topic at hand.

"Who?" the amber-eyed boy asked, unsure of what was being discussed.

"It seems Nakuru has finally located the kushinada, Syaoran," Kaho supplied.

"Is that so?"

The boy referred to as Syaoran didn't sound too thrilled. It just meant more work for him. After all, once they found the kushinada it was his job to watch over her and protect her, and that, he was sure, would just be a pain in his side.

"What's with the impromptu meeting?" a new voice from the doorway questioned.

Everyone turned to see a teenager Syaoran's age, with cerulean eyes framed by glasses and navy bluish hair, walk in.

"It's the kushinada, Eriol, I found her," Nakuru explained to her partner.

"That's great!"

"Right?! Her name's Sakura Kinomoto, as we already knew. She lives in a small town called Tomoeda on the outskirts of Tokyo. She's 17 and is a senior at Tomoeda High."

Fujitaka ran a hand through his hair. "I see. So that's where they relocated after leaving Izumo. Well in that case I have a phone call to make."

Fujitaka excused himself to his private office on the other side of the room.

**xXxXxXx**

**The peaceful town of Tomoeda . . .**

"Ah, I'm late!!" A girl with dazzlingly clear green eyes cried.

Her long honey auburn hair bounced behind her as she tore down the stairs, nearly running over her mother in the process.

"Sorry, Mom!" she yelled over her shoulder as she kept moving.

Nadeshiko sighed, a delicate hand resting on her forehead. It was the same song and dance every morning with her daughter.

"Sakura, you're 17 for crying out loud! When are you going to start making it to school on time?!"

"Um, when I'm 30?"

"But you won't be in school anymore when you're that age."

Sakura grinned. "Exactly."

She put her shoes on, grabbed her satchel, and scurried out the door. She was wearing a dark green pleated skirt with a white sailor blouse, black shoes and white knee highs. That was the uniform she wore to school everyday. She ran as fast as she could down the side walk, the freshly fallen autumn leaves crunching underneath her pounding feet. Nadeshiko watched her daughter bolt down the road towards the bus stop. The phone started to ring from inside the kitchen, tearing Nadeshiko away from the front door. She hurried to answer it. Upon hearing the voice on the other line her heart stopped. She had been warned that one could not escape his or her destiny but she had to try. She had never wanted to hear the voice on the other end, the voice of Fujitaka Nakamura, ever again because a call from him meant her daughter's fate was sealed.

**xXxXxXx**

Sakura jumped down the bus steps and walked into her school. Once she reached her classroom and took her seat, she leaned over to her friend's desk in the next isle and greeted her.

Hey, Rika!"

The girl smiled. "Good morning, Sakura! So what topic did you pick?"

"Huh?"

Rika rolled her eyes, "Jeeze, Sakura! Sometimes you're such an airhead. The class is going to the library during first hour to do research on the topics we were supposed to pick last night for our history project."

Sakura sweat dropped. "Ohhhhhh, I forgot all about that!"

"Big surprise," Rika deadpanned.

As soon as the teacher took attendance, the class headed up to the library on the fourth floor. Sakura, with Rika's help, picked a topic and started walking through the library glancing at all the shelves in an attempt to find books that would supply her with some information on her topic. Outside the library, a giant tree began to shift and change its shape.

_**Kushinada . . . **_

Startled, Sakura dropped the book she was holding to the floor.

"Huh?"

She bent down to pick it up when she heard the same raspy whisper.

_**Kushinada . . .**_

She stopped and looked around.

"What was that?" she asked out loud even though no one was around that corner of the library. The voice she heard – she wasn't even sure she actually heard it, it seemed to be more in her head then spoken out loud – was rasping out a word that was foreign to Sakura's vocabulary.

_**Kushinada . . .**_

Sakura thought she saw something move past the nearby window. Just as she moved closer to investigate several thick green vines burst through the window. Glass rained down and books were scattered across the floor as Sakura was thrown back into the bookcase behind her. In the blink of an eye vines started coming from everywhere, busting through the rest of the windows and walls, knocking over all the book shelves and tables as they went. The students started panicking as they scrambled towards the exit. Sakura was among them, trying to get out, when she was knocked down a different hallway then the rest of the students. She was up and running towards the nearest flight of stairs in a heart beat. As she reached the middle of the staircase, a bunch of vines lashed out at her and she tumble down the rest of the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom her body slammed into the stairwell wall.

**xXxXxXx**

The shrill sound of an alarm interrupted the low chattering taking place. Nakuru ran back over to her computer and hit a few keys.

"Oh great!" she whined and hit another key.

"What's wrong?!" Meilin asked.

"It's the arigami, they're on the attack!"

Toya scoffed. "Yeah, that's generally what's happening when the alarm goes off!"

"Yeah but, the attack is several miles north, outside of Tokyo, in Tomoeda . . ."

Everyone fell silent.

"Looks like we're not the only ones to discover the kushinada," Kaho said forlornly.

"Alright everybody, get your gear and let's go!" Fujitaka ordered.

Everyone in the office scrambled for their weapons and such before heading to the roof to board the UH-1 Iroquois chopper. They took off immediately. As soon as the helicopter reached it's destination it flew up fast and circled the premises of Tomoeda high. It then proceeded to hover a few feet off the ground. Five figures jumped to the ground before the chopper headed back up into the air. Nakuru carried a black, metallic suitcase, Eriol had a laptop in his hands, Kaho had a first aid kit along with Yukito, and Toya was packing some serious heat. Fujitaka flew the helicopter over the roof of the school that was now incased in thick green vines. Syaoran was hanging out of the wide doorway, ready to jump down as soon as they were close enough. Meilin was also in the doorway with a handheld canon of some sort lying across one of her shoulders.

"As soon as I blast a hole through the roof, you jump in, find the girl, and get out, got it?!"

Syaoran nodded his head. He put a hand on his sword for reassurance. Meilin noticed.

"I still don't get it, why don't you carry a gun?!"

"I have my reasons," was his curt reply. It left little room for argument, and they didn't have time for one anyway.

**xXxXxXx**

Back inside the school, Sakura shook her head as she sat up, dazed and confused. She noticed the vines around her immediately and started to edge along the wall in an attempt to go unnoticed. She had only taken a few steps before come face-to-face with a thick, forest green vine. Startled, she tried to press herself further into the wall. The vine danced around in front of her then spoke, but not aloud. She could hear it in her head.

_**So, you are the Princess Kushinada . . . I can feel that disgusting pulse residing inside you . . . **_

"I don't know what you're talking about! I'm not a Princess! I don't even know what a kushinada is!!"

She was so terrified that she failed to realize the irrationality of her predicament. The fact that she was verbally arguing with a plant escaped her.

"What are you, some kind of monster?!"

The creature snickered. _**Monster, demon, arigami, you may call me what you like Princess Kushinada. It makes no difference to me. **_

"I told you you've got the wrong person! I'm no princess!" Sakura insisted, her voice shaking with fear.

_**So slowly . . . that's how I'll kill you . . . I long to watch you die . . . in excruciating agony . . .**_

The vine started shifting erratically and Sakura could see something moving along the inside towards the tip. Suddenly a grotesque eye popped out of the vine and was staring at her intently. Sakura screamed in disgust and kicked it away before she hurried down the hall. She ripped open the first door she came to and bolted inside the room. A quick glance let her know she'd entered a chemistry lab. The vines weren't far behind her and, as they came through the door, Sakura hurled all the beakers and test tubes she could find at them. The chemicals contained in the tubes splashed the vines as they shattered, burning through some of the vines and wilting others, keeping them at bay. When Sakura was left with nothing else to throw, she ran to the other side of the room where there was another door. She threw it open, practically knocking the door off its hinges in her haste, and dashed out into the hallway again, the vines hot on her trail. As she turned the corner she saw a huge section of the roof blow open a few feet away. A figure jumped through the hole and faced her. Sakura couldn't stop herself in time and plowed right into the person. He automatically wrapped his arms around her waist to stop them from falling down. As soon as her body made contact with his she pushed off of him and tried to turn the other way. She didn't know if he was here to help her or hurt her and she didn't want to stick around to find out if it was the latter. As she pushed off Syaoran's chest he grabbed her wrist so she couldn't run. Sakura started struggling like mad screaming and yelling at him to release her.

"Let me go! Get away from me! Leave me alone, please!"

Syaoran recognized her face from the picture Nakuru showed everyone on the flight over from Tokyo. "Stop! I'm here to help you!"

"No! Let go of me!"

Aggravated, Syaoran growled, "Listen I'm-"

The persistent vines turned the corner and headed straight for them.

_**Don't interfere! She belongs to me!**_

"Get down!" Syaoran ordered as he tackled Sakura to the ground and rolled out of the way. As soon as the vines passed over their heads he yanked her to her feet and dragged her down the hallway.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!" Sakura cried.

Without looking back Syaoran answered. "I'm with an organization called the T.A.C. and I'm here to rescue you!"

Trying to exit the building, Syaoran pulled Sakura down a flight of stairs leading to the second floor, but, due to all the damage the building had already sustained, the stairs crumbled beneath their feet. Sakura let out a terrified scream as they fell and Syaoran cursed vehemently. He quickly grabbed on to Sakura before everything went black.

**xXxXxXx**

Outside, Nakuru had opened the black metal suitcase to show some kind of computerized machine with several knobs, switches, and wires running from it. Eriol was helping her hook it up to the laptop he held while Toya sent several rounds of armor piercing bullets at the vines protruding from the now condemned school building to keep them at bay. They were squatting down in front of what used to be a normal tree in the school courtyard.

Toya looked back at his companions. "Are you two ready yet or what?!" he barked.

"Patience is a virtue, Toya," Eriol replied calmly without sparing even a glance at his frustrated comrade.

"Not when you're fighting a giant monster made out of plants it's not!"

"Now that we found the root of all this evil, no pun intended," Nakuru let out a little chuckle, "we should be able to take it down completely so just hold it off a little longer, Honey!"

"I'll do what I can, and don't call me honey! We aren't dating, Akizuki."

She gave a small pout but continued working. "Well we should be, and I told you to call me Nakuru!"

"Let's focus on the task at hand, shall we?" Eriol suggest putting an end to the familiar argument before it could begin.

Toya snorted and loaded another round into his automatic rifle. "This invention of yours better work you two!"

Nakuru pressed a few buttons and turned a couple of knobs on the black box machine. A low humming noise filled the air amongst the gunshots.

"There, it's ready!" she exclaimed. "First step we stabilize the vector, then we inject the T. I. Plasmets into the arigami! If our calculations are correct, this should induce a spontaneous gene mutation that will destroy the host's cellular structure."

"Meaning?!" Toya asked as he took out another vine.

"Meaning the original tree the arigami has latched onto should rapidly age and die. Eriol, stick it with the red wire so I can initiate the first step."

Eriol grabbed the red wire that was connected to the machine and jammed it into what used to be the trunk of a tree.

Nakuru flipped a switch on the machine. "First step initialized, the machine's reading the cellular make up of the tree!"

**xXxXxXx**

Inside the school, Syaoran's head was pounding as he came to. He tried to move his hands to his head but found that he couldn't. On closer inspection he realized that he was in the school gymnasium and was tied to the pole of one of the basketball hoops by several slimy vines. He started struggling against his restraints when he heard the high pitched wail of a girl. His head snapped up – doing loads for his headache – and he saw Sakura dangling from the opposite basketball hoop. She was held a good five feet in the air at least by several vines with more vines wrapped around her arms and chest. Of what he could see, her uniform was in tatters, but she looked fine otherwise, at least for the time being. Despite the futility of her situation she kicked and twisted in the air, demanding to be let down. Syaoran had to give her props; she had quite the fighting spirit. All around her in a circle were gigantic crystals with silky smooth surfaces. They appeared to be made of glass. Positioned in front of Sakura was the head and body of the monster. It looked like a dragon, but made of plants oddly enough. Syaoran knew in an instant what was going on.

"Ahhhhh! Let me go!!" Sakura cried, continuing to kick at nothing.

_**I can't do that. Not after I've prepared this special coffin just for you.**_

A low growl escaped from Syaoran's throat.

Sakura stopped moving, her eyes growing wide. "Coffin?"

_**That's right. You are the kushinada. If your blood is spilt then my kind will be eradicated from this world. For years we had to worry about the humans using you as a sacrifice to destroy us. But now, we've discovered a way to counter the poisonous energy your blood will release when you die. By merely placing a few pieces of this special glass all around you we can create a ceramic field. Ironic that a human invention born from science will be mankind's undoing. It will absorb the energy your blood will release when I kill you, preventing you from destroying my race! **_

Sakura listened to the beast in front of her but was more confused than ever.

"What are you talking about!?"

"The death of any human releases certain energies! The death of the kushinada produces a pulse of electro-magnetic energy that forces the arigami into an eternal sleep!" Syaoran explained.

"But you've made a mistake! I'm not the kushinada! I'm just a normal teenage girl!"

_**That's where you're wrong. Once you are gone my arigami brethren will rise up and wipe out the human race starting with Japan and moving across the globe until the entire planet is inhabited by us. You humans don't deserve it anyway, the way you've taken care of it. You had your chance, and now we shall have ours! **_the voice roared in their minds.

"Run, get out of here!" Syaoran shouted, still trying to free himself.

"Run?! How can I!?" Sakura yelled back.

The arigami's main body moved to the side as it raised some of the vines behind it up high. The vines twirled together and made a sharp tip, like the point of a sword.

_**For seventeen, no, for a thousand years I've dreamed of the day I could kill you myself! The domination of your race is over! Say your goodbyes, Kushinada!!**_

The vines rushed towards Sakura as she let lose a blood curdling scream.

"No!" Syaoran cried.

He watched in horror at the scene playing before his eyes. This girl was Earth's last sure fire chance of beating the arigami. It was his mission to save her, to keep her safe. The fate of the world had been placed in his hands, and he had failed.

**xXxXxXx**

"The vector has determined the genetic composition of the tree and is stabilized! Now we can inject the appropriate plasmets into the body to disrupt the original genetic makeup of the tree. Eriol, stick it with the blue wire!" Nakuru ordered.

He rammed the blue wire into the trunk right next to the red. Just as he moved away, Nakuru threw another switch on the machine. A few seconds later, the arigami's skin – if you could call it that – started to bubble up everywhere. Then it started to wilt, like dead branches of a tree. Meilin, who had joined the group with Fujitaka after he landed the helicopter, kicked one of the vines and watched as it crumpled into dust.

"This one's dead," she said in a light, surprised tone.

Nakuru clapped her hands together. "Alright! When mixed inside the concentrated vector, the mutagens were injected so quickly that the original tree had no way of correcting the error that was created in its cellular structure and so it died instantly!"

Meilin raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Just think of it as an extremely strong weed killer," Eriol smiled.

"Riiiighhhht."

Eriol adjusted his glasses. "However, the arigami itself has not been killed since it's a parasite. It has simply lost its current host."

Toya snorted. "Well it's better than nothing. At least it can't attack us anymore."

"Yes," Eriol admitted, "for now. The situation can be rectified though. The arigami is a mutation of the host body's genetic structure, so all it has to do is latch on to a new host as soon as it gets the chance and it will be up and running again if it so desires."

"Well then let's quit wasting time and see if we can find the seed!" Meilin shouted

**xXxXxXx**

Inside the gym, just as the vines were ready to hit Sakura, the skin of the arigami started to bubble up and the vines stopped. The monster wailed in agony. The green ropes holding Sakura and Syaoran prisoner loosened in response. Syaoran jumped to his feet and ran for Sakura just as the vines that held her dropped her to the floor. So shocked by the sudden turn of events she didn't even bother to scream. Right before she hit the ground, Syaoran caught her. Not wasting a moment, he swiftly headed for the emergency exit, Sakura still in his arms.

_**I will make you pay for ruining my chance to kill the kushinada!**_

It shot the few vines it had left at Syaoran's retreating back. He was able to dodge most of them, but the last one punctured his left shoulder. The impact caused him to dropped Sakura and fall to the ground a few feet away from her. The vine dried out like the rest and broke off in his shoulder. The arigami opened its big mouth to reveal one last vine with a blue type of bead attached to the front of it. The bead was shinny and had a shape similar to the number nine with a slightly curved tail.

_**Die!**_

The vine sped towards Syaoran's back, going for the kill, but Sakura got up and ran in front of him to intercept the oncoming threat. Her arms spread out wide in an attempt to shield him.

"Don't hurt him!"

Syaoran turned around to see the girl he was sent to protect blocking him.

"No don't! Get out of the way!"

In an instant, the vine ran threw Sakura's chest and out her back. Her eyes widened and grew foggy.

"You . . . you lose," she gasped out through the intense pain.

_**Very clever, you know I can't kill you outside of a ceramic field,**_ the monster growled.

The arigami's vine started to glow as it pulled itself back out of her body. The hole in her back was healed but, as the vine retracted from her front, the shinny, blue bead was left attached to Sakura's chest.

_**We will be back for you Kushinada, you can be sure of that!**_

The rest of the arigami finally turned a sickly yellow-brown and took out another wall of the school as it crashed to the floor. Exhausted from the ordeal and the throbbing pain she still felt in her chest, Sakura passed out and fell backwards into Syaoran's arms. He hosted her up, wincing at the pain that ran through his injured shoulder. He looked down at the figure in his arms and glared. How could one girl cause so much trouble? Yet his glare softened a bit as he remembered how she was willing to sacrifice herself for him even though she didn't even know him. Sakura's body was suddenly engulfed in a soft pink glow, her aura, and the beadlike jewel centered above her breasts turned the same shade of pink, showing that the bead was now a part of her.

The building started to rumble and Syaoran realized the whole school was coming down. He hustled over to the emergency exit, kicked open the door, and ran out of the building just as it completely collapsed. The rest of the T.A.C. members saw him carrying a girl in his arms and knew he had succeeded in his mission. Kaho and Yukito immediately ran over to check both of them.

**xXxXxXx**

Several hours later, Sakura awoke with a start. She sat up in bed and looked around the room. There were a few pieces of furniture aside from the twin bed she was lying in and a window with the shades drawn. The room and all its contents were foreign to her.

"Where am I?"

When she was sure she could stand without falling over she got out of the unfamiliar bed and headed towards the window.

"_I wonder what happened to that guy that helped me . . ."_ she wondered absentmindedly.

Sakura yanked open the window curtain only to yank it closed again.

She swallowed nervously. "No way . . ."

Taking a deep breath she opened the curtain again. It was a beautiful sight but one she'd never seen before. Instead of seeing her tiny hometown of Tomoeda she saw a hug city full of lights and tall sky scrapers. The sky was a deep black and all the buildings were lit up. There was hardly a star in the sky thanks to all the ambient light the city buildings created. Sakura gasped as she came to a conclusion.

"I don't believe it, I'm in Tokyo!!!"

**To be continued . . . **

**Next time:** _Chapter 2: Welcome to the T.A.C. _Sakura's in Tokyo but why? What's the T.A.C. and why are the arigami suddenly so interested in her?? What the heck's a kushinada??? So many questions not nearly enough answers . . . Sakura meets the members of the organization bent on protecting her and learns of her mysterious heritage and her unfortunate destiny from a special legend.

**A/N:** Well that's it for the first chapter. Reviews would be greatly appreciated as I'd love to know what you think. A lot of the things I used in this chapter came directly from the first episode of the Blue Seed anime. It's an interesting show and it's only 26 episodes long. What makes it so interesting is that it's steeped in the mythological Japanese legend of the storm god Susano-O and his battle with the Yamato-no-Orochi. Most of the stuff I barrow is going to be from the anime, as the manga seems quite a bit different from what I've read, but this story isn't an exact recreation of the original Blue Seed just so you know. There will be many differences. In fact, the farther this story gets the farther it gets from the original Blue Seed. I intend to update this story once a week, at least for 10 weeks as that's how many chapters I have done (basically the 1st of what will be two arcs). I'm going to shoot for every Wednesday, but even if the day changes it should be once a week. I hope you enjoyed the first installment and are looking forward to the next :) See you next Wednesday!!

_**SakuraJade**_


	2. Welcome to the TAC

**A/N: **So here's the second chapter on Wednesday as promised. I do have to say that I'm disappointed that the first chapter of this story has over 40 visitors and only _one_ person bothered to review :( So many thanks to pyro-psycho-chick for bothering to leave a comment since no one else did. Although I have the first half of this story done, if it's popularity doesn't pick up in the next couple of chapters I might just take it down and try reposting it some other time. So if you like the story please review and let me know! I mean it's not like it will kill you . . .

_Note:_So you know, Fujitaka and Toya are NOT related to Sakura in this story, which is why I had to give them different last names from her and from each other for that matter. However, essentially they are the same characters they were in CCS, completely in looks, and mostly in personality. Same with Meilin, she's not related to Syaoran and thus not a Li so I had to give her a different last name as well, although I did keep it, and her, Chinese.

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

**Defying Destiny  
**

_Chapter 2: Welcome to the T.A.C._

Sakura stumbled back from the window and landed with a thud on her butt. As she got back up she noticed she was wearing a pair of plain blue hospital scrubs instead of the Tomoeda High School uniform she'd been wearing when she was last conscious. She took one more look around the room and, having no idea where she was, scurried over to the door. Relieved that it wasn't locked, she pulled it open and ran for it. When she turned the corner she collided with a young lady. The pair tumbled a few feet before coming to a halt. Sakura attempted to untangle herself from the girl. She was young like Sakura, with waist length, silky purplish-black tresses that curled at the tips and deep, amethyst eyes. Sakura vaguely noticed the girl's hair was only slightly longer than her own as she sat up rubbing her head. The girl groaned in pain on the floor.

"Ouch . . . that hurt!" she cried.

Sakura hurried to help the other girl up.

"Oh gee, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to knock you down like that!"

Once on her feet the young lady quickly straightened herself out and addressed Sakura.

"No no, it's okay, really. I'm just glad to see you're finally awake! You've been asleep for eight and a half hours now!"

"Eight and half hours?! What happened?! Where am I?!" Sakura exclaimed. "What about my school and my friends?! Did Rika get out of there?!"

Tomoyo held up two dainty hands in an effort to calm Sakura down. "Whoa whoa, take it easy. Give me a second and I'll explain. You're at the T.A.C.'s headquarters in Tokyo. You were attacked at your school by a creature we call arigami. Your school was totally destroyed, but as far as we know there were no casualties. You and Syaoran were the last ones left in the building before it completely collapsed. After Syaoran got you out we brought you back here with us because you're the kushinada and we need to keep you safe."

Sakura moaned in annoyance. "Oh, not this kushinada business again . . ."

The girl didn't seem to hear her as she continued.

"I was on my way to check on you. Now that you're awake, you need to meet our boss Mr. Nakamura. Come on, before we left Tomoeda, we stopped at your house to pick up some of your things. Your mom will be sending the rest of your stuff soon. We grabbed some of your clothes so let's get you dressed before I take you downstairs to meet the rest of the gang."

She took Sakura's hand and began to lead her back down the hallway.

She flashed a smile over her shoulder as she said, "I'm Tomoyo by the way."

Sakura remained silent. Once back in the room, Tomoyo pulled an outfit out of a duffle back lying on the floor in the corner and sent Sakura into the bathroom to change. Once she reappeared fully dressed, Tomoyo nodded her head in approval. Sakura had on a light blue pair of jeans that flared slightly at the bottom, with white tennis shoes, and a light pink long-sleeved shirt that had a V-neck. She had fixed her long hair into a high ponytail with a pink ribbon. Her bangs and the pieces of her hair too short to stay pulled back framed her face nicely.

"Cute outfit! Pink is so your color!"

A light flush spread across Sakura's cheeks. "Oh, thank you."

Tomoyo noticed the shinny pink bead on Sakura's chest and pointed at it.

"Uh, what's that?"

Sakura looked down at the pink gem and memories of how the small jewel got there came flooding back to her. She had forgotten all about it.

"I-I don't know. That . . . thing, that arigami left it on me."

Tomoyo gasped.

"What? What's the matter?" Sakura asked, worry creasing her smooth face.

"It's a seed! I didn't recognize it because they're usually blue."

"What?"

Tomoyo explained, "The arigami are seeds, or mitamas as they are more appropriately called. The mitama are considered souls. They're like parasites. They don't have a body of their own, so they barrow other creatures bodies and use them as hosts for their seeds. Right before they die they launch their seeds away, in hopes that they will latch onto something else they can use as a host. And it latched its seed onto you!"

"Does that mean I'm going to turn into an arigami!?" Sakura cried a wave of panic washing over her.

Tomoyo started laughing at the frightened look on Sakura's face.

"No! Only organisms with low intelligence can be hosts for the arigami. Due to their low brain capacity, the arigami can easily take control of their bodies and consciousnesses. People are too intelligent for them to use as host, unless the person wants the arigami to use them of course. And I can tell by the look on your face that you don't so you don't have to worry about it," she smiled reassuringly. "Now come on, I have to get back downstairs before they send a search party after me!"

Tomoyo and Sakura headed for the elevator down the hall and took it a few floors down. Tomoyo walked up to a big door and turned to Sakura.

"This is the main office area. We all have a desk and our junk in here. You were in the infirmary. We also have a science lab and weapons development center, but they're both on a different floor."

Tomoyo pushed the door open and led Sakura in.

"Guess what everybody?!"

All eyes turned to the pair. Sakura unconsciously shrunk back through the doorway at being the center of attention in a room full of strangers. She suddenly felt very self-conscious and shy.

Having everyone's undivided attention, Tomoyo continued. "Look who's finally awake!"

She waved at Sakura to come in, but ended up having to drag her in by her arm. Sakura looked around the room at everybody with a nervous smile plastered on her face.

"Uh . . . Hi?"

Kaho rose from her seat and approached the pair. "Oh good, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"A little sore, but fine otherwise."

"So the mitama on your chest isn't affecting you in any strange ways?"

"No it's- wait, how'd you already know about it?" Sakura asked, her hand unconsciously clasping it.

"I noticed it when I changed your clothes. Your school uniform was in shambles, so I decided to put you in a pair of extra scrubs I had in the infirmary."

"Oh," was all Sakura had to say.

Fujitaka cleared his throat. "Well, let's start with introductions shall we? My name is Fujitaka Nakamura. I'm in charge of the Terrestrial Administrative Center or T.A.C. for short."

He pointed at Kaho.

"This is Kaho Mizuki, our doctor. Aside from medical research, she's well versed in many other science fields as well. She experiments with chemical warfare in the hopes of discovering new ways to destroy the arigami. She's second in command."

His hand moved to Yukito.

"This is Yukito Tsukishiro. He assists Kaho in the infirmary and the lab. He is also our historian in a way. He knows the most about Japanese mythology and folklore."

Yukito smiled warmly at Sakura. "I'm really glad you're okay. I would have felt awful if we hadn't been able to save you!"

Sakura blushed a little at Yukito's words. Next Fujitaka pointed at Meilin.

"This is Meilin Yang. She's part of our weapons specialist team. Aside from actual weapons, she's been trained as a Shinto priestess and can use spirit wards, incantations, and other such things to fight the arigami."

"Too bad she acts more like a brat than a priestess," Toya jeered.

Meilin glared at him but said nothing. Fujitaka moved on to Toya.

"This delightful person is Toya Takeuchi. He's the other member of our weapons specialist team, so he and Meilin spend a good majority of their time together. There's not a weapon already made that he can't use, and he knows all the effects our current weapons have on the arigami. He's a crack shot too."

Tomoyo leaned over to Sakura's ear and whispered. "Yeah his motto is: 'If you still have bullets, keep shooting!'"

Sakura let out a little giggle as Fujitaka pointed at a pretty young woman with a bright smile on her face.

"This special lady is Nakuru Akizuki. She's one of our computer technicians. She also knows a great deal about biotechnology and helps create many of the weapons that we use against the arigami."

She gave Sakura a friendly wave. "I'm the one that found you!"

Fujitaka nodded then moved on.

"This young man is Eriol Hiiragizawa. He is also into computer science and biotechnology and works with Nakuru. He's an expert hacker. The both of them work with Meilin and Toya during battles and with Kaho and Yukito here at headquarters as their fields tend to crossover at times."

Finally, Fujitaka came to the only face Sakura recognized. It was the boy who saved her back at her school.

"This is Syaoran Li. He also helps fight the arigami, but his main job is to protect the kushinada from them at all costs. He is very skilled in Martial Arts and swordsmanship, though he's also good with a gun. He has some other special abilities as well."

Meilin crossed her arms over her chest. "I still think it's weird he chooses a sword over a gun."

Syaoran placed a hand over a gold medallion hanging from his neck. "This sword is special, end of discussion."

Meilin rolled her eyes but said nothing more. Sakura looked at Syaoran but his face was expressionless. His impassiveness made Sakura uncomfortable and she dropped his gaze in favor of looking back at Fujitaka.

Fujitaka shook his head at their bickering and moved his hand to Tomoyo.

"And finally, this is Tomoyo Daidouji. She's our public relations representative. She takes care of the press and such. She's also our "connector" as we like to call her. When we need something, whether it is information or a tangible item, she gets it."

She winked at Sakura. "In other words I've got the hook up. And I'm really good with a camcorder!"

"Er, yes. Tomoyo here has taped a few of the battles we've had with the arigami. We go back and watch them, in an attempt to develop new strategies for beating them. She also designed our uniform jackets."

Sakura looked around the room at everyone, noticing their matching jackets for the first time. Indeed they were all wearing white jackets that zipped up. Each jacket had two colored patches in the shape of a triangle, one on each shoulder, and the same color followed along the zipper on both sides up towards the collar before spreading out across the chest like the hat of a capital letter "T." Each team member had a different color. Fujitaka's was brown, Kaho's was yellow, Yukito's was grey, Meilin's was red, Toya's was black, Nakuru's was orange, Eriol's was blue, Syaoran's was green, and Tomoyo's was purple. Inside the patches, their last names were stitched out of white thread in cursive English. They were nice.

"Well my name's Sakura Kinomoto and I still don't understand what's going on. So I'd appreciate it if someone would explain it to me!" Sakura cried in frustration.

Everybody in the room looked at each other unsurely, so Sakura could tell that this was a topic they really weren't jumping to talk about.

"Well, you see . . . that is to say . . ." Fujitaka began.

"Yes?"

"In case you still don't know, you are the kushinada-"

"Yeah I got that part, that arigami monster that attacked me at the school made sure I understood at least that much, and the fact that my death means their destruction. But why, what's so special about me?"

Yukito rolled a chair over to her. "Why don't you sit down and I'll explain everything as best I can."

Sakura glanced at the chair warily but did as she was told. The others took their seats at their desks nearby and Yukito began.

"Sakura, do you know of the Japanese storm god Suzano-O?"

"Vaguely," she admitted.

"Well, the legend goes that he was somewhat of a trouble maker and he was kicked out of heaven for fighting with his sister Amaterasu, the sun goddess. He descended to Izumo by the headwaters of the river Hi where he found a man and woman crying. A young woman stood between the crying pair. He asked who they were and the man told him he was the earth deity Ashi-nadzuchi and the woman was his wife Te-nadzuchi. The young lady between them was their daughter Inada-hime, or Princess Inada. When he asked why they were crying they explained that they used to have eight daughters but the Yamato-no-Orochi, a terrible monster with eight heads and eight tails on one body, had been devouring one of their daughters for the last seven years and now he was going to eat the only one they had left, Inada-hime."

Yukito paused to make sure Sakura was keeping up then continued.

"Suzano-O offered to kill the monster in return for Inada-hime's hand in marriage. The couple agreed, as it was the only way to save their daughter's life. Suzano-O turned Inada-hime into a comb, or kushi, and stuck it in his hair for safekeeping then he ordered her parents to brew eight vats of sake. When the Yamato-no-Orochi came, he greedily drained all the vats of sake then fell into a drunken sleep. While the monster slept, Suzano-O chopped him into many pieces with his sword. When he got to one of the monster's tails, there was a blade hidden inside of it, the kusinagi-no-tsurugi. He took the blade and presented it to his sister Amaterasu as a reconciliation gift. She accepted and passed it down to her descendent Ninigi. This sword eventually became one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan. With Inada-hime safe, henceforth known as Kushinada-hime, or Princess Kushinada, due to having been turned into a comb, Suzano-O married her and fathered many children with her. Their children, being the products of a human and a god, had special powers but only their first born, a daughter, could be used against the Yamato-no-Orochi if he ever returned," he finished.

Kaho moved towards Sakura and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "And you are the only descendant left."

Sakura's mind was reeling. Yukito's story was a lot to take in.

"So let me get this straight, you're saying that I am actually a descendent of the storm god Suzano-O and Princess Kushinada?"

Yukito nodded his head.

"That's crazy!"

"But true," he said. "The bloodline runs through your mother's side. In fact, you were born in Izumo and lived there until you were one, after that, your mother moved the two of you to Tomoeda."

Sakura couldn't argue with that, she remembered her mother telling her that she was born in Izumo, a major birthplace of many Japanese legends. It was also the place where Suzano-O was enshrined. The whole thing still didn't set right with her though. She had more questions.

"Well what about my mother? Does she know about all this? Doesn't she have the power to stop them too? What if they go after her?!" Sakura cried, intensely worried about the safety of her mother, Nadeshiko.

Kaho shook her head. "Calm down, your mother is fine. She does know about your blood tie to the kushinada line but they won't go after her. Once a kushinada gives birth her powers are passed to her offspring. As a rule of thumb, she always has a daughter first and that daughter becomes the new kushinada. Your mother no longer has the pulse that will destroy the arigami. It now lies with you. The monsters we call arigami were spawned from Yamato-no-Orochi a long time ago and when Suzano-O destroyed the Orochi his spawn fell into an eternal slumber. Obviously it did not last. Seventeen years ago they awoke and have been instilling terror into the citizens of Japan since."

"The only sure fire way to stop them," Yukito resumed speaking, "is to sacrifice the eighth daughter the Orochi never got, or in this case, her descendent. Of course there's more to it than that now. The arigami no longer want the sacrifice Yamato-no-Orochi was intended to have, as that would mean the end of their race. They now want to rid the world of humans and become the dominant race on our planet, starting with Japan."

"Then why did the one at my school want to kill me?" Sakura asked, more confused than ever.

"Because of this," Kaho answered, as she pulled a jagged piece of what looked like a shinny glass crystal out of her jacket pocket.

As soon as she saw it, Sakura remember seeing it before.

"When I was in the school, there were big glass crystals that looked just like that set up in a circle all around me . . ."

"Yes, this is a fragment from one of those crystals you saw at your school. It's actually a man made element. It can create what's called a ceramic field."

"You mean like a force field?"

"In a way. The only thing a ceramic field can trap though is the power within you and because of that they can now kill you without suffering the consequences meaning-"

"They'll be unstoppable if they succeed," Sakura finished.

Kaho simply nodded. A heavy silence descended upon the group. Finally, Sakura broke the silence.

"So, when are you going to sacrificing me?" she asked in a small, quite voice.

"We're not," Fujitaka answered with a smile.

Sakura peered at him with a quizzical look so he continued. "Don't get me wrong, it's not exactly out of the cards yet, but it is the T.A.C.'s job to not only fight the arigami that surface but to also try and find an alternative way to rid the planet of them permanently."

Kaho added, "It is our hope that, through the great strides humans have made in science and technology, we can spare your life and destroy them by a different means."

"Well can't you just do whatever you did at my school to all of them?"

"I'm afraid it's not that easy. In many ways the arigami are fascinating creatures. All they really are is that fragile blue mitama, and if that is crushed, they die. That is simple enough, yet, despite their simplicity in design and composition, they appear to be rather intelligent beings, able to communicate by way of telepathy. Plus we don't know the number of mitama out there, how they reproduce, or their life span if not interrupted by premature death. That fact alone makes things rather difficult, as we don't know how many we'd have to destroy by hand before they went extinct."

Kaho placed a thoughtful hand on her cheek and continued. "It is our hypothesis that they are plant-based beings because they are usually dormant during the day, possibly using that time to generate energy from the sun as most plants do, you know, photosynthesis. They store energy during the day then become active at night. That and the fact that an organism a seed latches onto, regardless of its original composition, tends to adopt plantlike qualities thereafter. So I'm hoping through advanced studies in horticulture and molecular biology we can come up with something. But as of right now we still don't possess a weapon that can eradicate all of them from the planet."

Sakura sighed forlornly. "Other than me."

"Yes but that is a last resort."

She turned her eyes to Fujitaka, determination burning in them. "I want to help."

"What?!" Melin cried from her desk.

"You heard me. If you guys are looking for an alternative way to kill the arigami so that my life will be spared, then I want to help."

Fujitaka adjusted the glasses on his face. "I don't know . . . It'll be dangerous."

"Well you've made it clear that I'm already going to be staying in Tokyo from now on so why not let me help in any way I can?"

"She does have a point, Mr. Nakamura," Tomoyo butted in.

"Yes I know, thank you for pointing that out, Tomoyo," he said, his tone indicating that he wasn't really thanking her.

He looked from Sakura's pleading eyes to Tomoyo's and finally relented.

"Oh alright, you can be a member of the T. A. C."

Tomoyo hugged Sakura and she couldn't help but smile. Tomoyo seemed so nice, Sakura had a feeling they were going to become close friends. At least she hoped so; she could use a close friend right about now.

Fujitaka rose from his seat and addressed everyone in the room. "Well, now that all that's taken care of I guess we can head home for the night." He turned to Sakura, "You'll be staying with Syaoran and me, Sakura."

Since they were officially released, everyone rose from their seats and proceeded for the door. As Syaoran neared Sakura she smiled at him pleasantly in an attempt to be friendly, since they were about to become roommates, but all she received was a cold, emotionless stare in return. The smile slipped off her face as he brushed past her without a word. She quietly followed after him and Fujitaka.

_What's his problem?_

**To be continued . . . **

**Next time:** _Chapter 3: Trouble at Tokyo Tower. _Sakura and Tomoyo bond as Tomoyo gives her a more detailed breakdown of their fellow T.A.C. members, including her icy guardian, Syaoran. Then, a tour around Tokyo turns deadly when the arigami come for Sakura . . .

**A/N:** Sorry this chapter wasn't so exciting, but it was necessary to introduce the characters' positions/jobs and the kushinada legend and all that. I promise it will start to pick up soon! The legend in this chapter is real and very interesting. Yukito's story is mostly the real legend. I then tweaked it to fit my plot. Part of the tweaking was straight from Blue Seed and part I made up. You can read the real legend on the Internet if you want. Wikipedia has some pretty detailed info about it. I already have this entire story pretty much planned out but ideas from my readers are always welcomed and encouraged. I'm writing this story for those who like to read it so I enjoy trying to incorporate things my readers would like to see if it's possible and if I do come across writers block then your ideas help get the story going again :) Anyway please review if you like it so far so the time I spent writing this story is justified lol It's the closest form of payment us fanfic authors get for dedicating our time to write something for your enjoyment!

_**SakuraJade**_


	3. Trouble at Tokyo Tower

**A/N: **The lack of feedback I've received for this story so far has been very disappointing :( So if you like this story enough to keep reading the updates _please _review and let me know what you think! Tell me what you like and/or what you don't like. Comments help me improve future chapters and give my audience what they want to see so I really rely on them to make my stories better. Help me out with that you guys! Without reviews I just assume no one likes it :( I do appreciate the two of you that have reviewed, please keep doing it!

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

**Defying Destiny**

_Chapter 3: Trouble at Tokyo Tower_

Sakura sat up and yawned. She rubbed her eyes vigorously, willing away the sleepy feeling that remained. Taking a look around the room, she realizing she didn't recognize her surroundings. At first she couldn't remember where she was, but it didn't take long for yesterday's memories to assault her mind, the sluggish feeling in her brain all but gone now. She was in her new bedroom at Mr. Nakamura's house. When they reached his house last night, it had been late evening and, still exhausted from everything that had transpired that day, Sakura retired to bed for the night. She didn't even bother to eat or look around the house. That included checking out her new room. As soon as her head hit the pillow she was out cold. The bright morning sun was streaming through the slits in the window blinds so she took a second to look over her bedroom.

The walls were painted a soft pink but otherwise bare. The blinds partially shading the room were white with a sheer, pink valance draped elaborately over the curtain rod above the window. There was a white desk with a chair, a dresser with a mirror, a walk-in closet, and a T.V. set up within the room. The bed set was white with four high poles, one at each corner. An intricate design was carved into the bed headboard. Her bedding consisted of pale pink sheets and a white and pink thinly stripped comforter. The floor was covered with dark cherry hardwood flooring. Sakura liked it; it was a nice balance of girly and grown up, which was just how she felt lately. She was slightly surprised at the fact that Mr. Nakamura already had a room set up for her but she dropped the thought as she fell into her normal morning routine: shower first, then get dressed, and then eat. She needed something familiar in all this unfamiliarity, it comforted her somewhat.

Once she got out of the shower she dug some clothes out of the duffle bag that had been placed on the floor of her closet. She settled for a pair of dark jeans and an orange, long-sleeved shirt with a hood. She threw a short-sleeved red shirt on over the orange shirt for a layered look and for some extra warmth as the fall weather was starting to get chillier, even in Tokyo. The red shirt had an oriental style fan on the front with some flowering branches behind it. She fixed her lengthy hair into a high ponytail with an orange ribbon and, satisfied with her appearance, headed down the second floor staircase for the kitchen.

The kitchen was rather spacious as it was a kitchen and dinning room together. Behind the table was a large sliding glass door to the deck and backyard. Fujitaka was sitting at the table reading the Saturday morning newspaper and sipping coffee from a steaming mug. Through the clear glass, she could see Syaoran on the lawn, practicing a kata with his sword. He seemed completely involved in the effort.

Fujitaka looked up from his newspaper and smiled at his new house guest. "Well good morning, Sakura. I hope you slept well."

"Yes, I slept fine. You certainly got that room fixed up for me quickly."

A look of unease passed through Fujitaka's eyes but it was there and gone so quickly that Sakura wasn't sure if she'd really even seen it.

"Would you like some breakfast?" he asked, changing the subject. "I made pancakes."

Sakura nodded. "Pancakes sound great, I'm starving."

Fujitaka chuckled. "Well you did miss lunch and skipped dinner yesterday so it's to be expected."

He rose from his chair to fix her a plate. While she waited patiently, she stared out the glass door. The backyard was of a decent size for a house in Tokyo, a city where space was extremely limited. It was fenced in, with quaint little gardens along the edges. Her eyes drifted back to the boy in the middle of the yard. She watched as he effortlessly swung his sword around at increasingly difficult arcs.

_At least he looks good, _she thought.

It was important that he was. After all, from today on, her life was going to be in this guy's hands according to what Mr. Nakamura had said back at the T.A.C. headquarters. Everyone at the T.A.C. was charged with protecting the kushinada, but he was her personal bodyguard. When no one else would be around _he_ would be. He'd _always_ be around her where ever she went, even if he wasn't actually standing right next to her. The thought was daunting and a little suffocating to say the least. Sakura liked to be in the company of others but even she liked her own personal space at times. Knowing that someone would be watching her every move made Sakura's skin crawl slightly. It was so stalker-ish.

Suddenly Syaoran turned around and swung his sword down in the direction of the house. He noticed he was being watched and his eyes locked with Sakura's. She smiled timidly and gave a small wave. Despite her friendly acknowledgement his eyes remained dispassionate and the smile on Sakura's face went from small to nonexistent. She felt his eyes boring into her accusingly, almost daring her to keep watching him. Sakura finally looked away; too uncomfortable to continue the impromptu staring contest that had erupted between them. Syaoran continued his practice session as if nothing had transpired. Sakura did not look back at him. To say he intimidated her was an understatement. She groaned to herself as she took a seat at the table. She was not getting a good vibe from Syaoran. In fact, he didn't seem very happy she was here . . .

_It's bad enough that I have to spend all my time with a total stranger but why couldn't it at least be a friendlier person than him?_

Fujitaka set a warm plate of pancakes covered with gooey syrup in front of her.

"I'm told I make a pretty mean pancake so eat up," he said jokingly.

Sakura smiled and began to eat. They were really good. Fujitaka took his seat again and picked up the paper.

"Isn't Syaoran going to come in for breakfast?" she asked.

"No, he already ate before you got up."

"Is he your step son or something?" Sakura questioned out of pure curiosity. She knew they weren't related by blood because they both had different last names.

Fujitaka said, "No, he's not. His parents were killed by the arigami five years ago. Wanting revenge for their deaths, he'd go after arigami monsters when they'd appear and fight them. He was only thirteen, but he still possessed great skill. I heard about his skills and so I asked him if he'd like to join a group that was dedicated to the permanent eradication of the arigami. Naturally he took me up on the offer and since he was so young and without a family I took him in."

"Oh," was all Sakura could think to say.

She'd hardly started her second pancake when the doorbell rang. Fujitaka left the room to answer it and a minute later he returned with Tomoyo at his heels. She was carrying two hangers, each with a garment bag over it.

"Tomoyo's come to see you," he announced. "Take a seat," he said to the new arrival.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your breakfast," she apologized as she set the garment bags down in one chair and pulled out another next to Sakura.

Fujitaka waved it off. "Nonsense, you know you're welcome here anytime. Would you like some pancakes? I've still got plenty."

"Sure, I'll have a couple."

As Fujitaka got a plate ready for her she turned to Sakura.

"So how are you feeling today?"

Sakura shrugged. "Fine I guess. What's up?"

"Well, starting Monday you will be joining Meilin, Syaoran, Eriol, and me at Seijou High. It's a private school in the area," she pointed at the garment bags, "and I came by to give you your uniform. I also finished your T.A.C. jacket last night and brought that by too."

Sakura immediate unzipped the bag containing her jacket. It was white like the others, but with pink patches and a pink "T" along the zipper and chest. Her last name, written in English cursive, was stitched into the pink shoulder patches in white thread.

"Thanks, Tomoyo, it looks great," Sakura said sincerely.

"It was my pleasure, Sakura."

Fujitaka handed Tomoyo a plate stacked with pancakes.

"Thank you, Mr. Nakamura."

He smiled in return and headed back to the kitchen to clean up. Sakura retook her seat and speared another fluffy piece of pancake with her fork. She raised it to her lips but paused right before she ate it, a question coming to mind.

"Wait you guys are still in school?"

"Well of course we are! I only just turned 18 back in September. Syaoran turned 18 in July and Meilin and Eriol will be 18 in March," she explained. "The others are a little older than us. Nakuru, Toya, and Yukito are all 20, so they've been out of high school for a little while now. They all share an apartment together and attend the university nearby."

"Well if you're all in school then how do you work for the T.A.C.?"

"The administration at Seijou High School knows about our jobs at the T.A.C. so we're allowed to come and go as needed. If our alarms go off we get up and leave the class without a word, it's that simple. Then we slip back in when we're done if school isn't over with yet. It's part of the reason we go to a private school instead of a public school. It's easier to leave when we have to. Of course, since the arigami typically attack at night, we don't have to ditch school very often. Sometimes we check in at headquarters before we go to school and sometimes we do it afterwards," Tomoyo finished, finally taking a bite from one of her flapjacks.

"I see." Sakura finally popped the waiting piece of pancake into her mouth. As soon as she swallowed it, another question presented itself. "Why does the T.A.C. employ such young people?"

"Age is irrelevant for the job, what they need is intelligence and people who can do their jobs well."

"Yeah but, I was hardly a year old when the arigami first started attacking so you guys had to be the same age!"

"True," Tomoyo nodded, "But they didn't attack Japan too often until a couple of years ago, and even then about 97 percent of arigami attacks take place in Tokyo. Remember, until they discovered the ceramic crystals that can nullify the power your death will release they had to behave to an extent. At any given moment we could find the kushinada and sacrifice her to put an end to their very existence. They would come up and attack here and there, feed on some humans if they really wanted to, but the attacks were so sporadic and uncommon that the Japanese self-defense force usually went after them. That's why the majority of Japan's citizens don't know much about the arigami. In an effort to keep wide spread panic down the Japanese government goes to great lengths to keep arigami attacks and sightings out of the news as much as possible. Of course, they can't cover every attack up from the greater public but they do what they can to downplay it as best they can."

Tomoyo paused to take another bite. She swallowed before continuing.

"Once the ceramic crystals were fabricated, however, they no longer had to fear the possibility of your sacrifice, well, to a certain point. I mean we could still do it and wipe them out, but if they can get you in a ceramic field then they will have nothing to really fear. Their attacks started increasing and the self-defense force wasn't enough. So a special group was created specifically to deal with the arigami. However, because the arigami are so difficult to deal with, not many people were lining up for the job so they couldn't be too choosy in the end. Most of us working there . . . we not only excel at the jobs we've been given, but we all have a personal vendetta against the arigami and so we want to fight them."

Sakura didn't respond, instead she finished her last couple of pancakes silently. The backdoor slid open and Syaoran walked in. He said nothing to either of them as he passed through the kitchen. Tomoyo didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest.

Once he was out of the kitchen and on his way up the stairs, Sakura asked, "So what's the deal with him?"

Tomoyo blinked. "Who, Syaoran?"

"Yeah, he's so standoffish and I get such an unfriendly feeling when he's around."

Tomoyo let out a small laugh. "Yeah that's Syaoran all right. Try not to take it personally though; he's pretty much like that with everybody."

"But why?"

Tomoyo shrugged. "I don't really know. He's been like that since I met him a couple years back when I was recruited for the team. Although his attitude worsened a bit after-well it doesn't really matter. He comes off as cold and distant, but he does have a softer side. I've seen it before, it just doesn't surface often."

Sakura didn't say anything in return, instead settling her gaze on her now empty plate. Tomoyo took that as her chance to change the subject.

"So what do you have planned for today?"

"Nothing really, seeing as I wasn't planning on being in Tokyo until I woke up here yesterday. Actually, I was gonna work on the history project I hadn't started yet, but since I'll no longer be attending Tomoeda High I guess I don't need to complete that assignment."

"Have you ever been to Tokyo before?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Then let's spend the day touring the city!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "Come on!" She rose from her seat.

Sakura blinked. "What now?"

"Yeah, why not? You don't have any plans and I'd be more than happy to show you around since I'm free too! We'll hit all the hot spots, Ginza, Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku, it'll be great!"

Tomoyo's enthusiasm was infectious and Sakura found herself smiling. "Okay, sounds like fun."

Just then Syaoran walked into the room. He had changed out of his sweats and into a pair of jeans and a button down green shirt with a white t-shirt showing underneath. Tomoyo smiled at him.

"Get your shoes on, Syaoran. We're taking Sakura around Tokyo!"

He raised a calculated eyebrow. "Now?"

Tomoyo simply nodded. Syaoran moved his eyes from her to Sakura. She gave a meek grin in response. He did not smile back. She shrank back a little under the weight of his heavy gaze. Without a word he left the room to get his shoes. Sakura felt a little guilty, he didn't seem to want to come with, but she knew he didn't have a choice. Where she went, he went, period. Sighing she headed back up to her room to retrieve her sneakers.

**xXxXxXx**

Tomoyo was delightful company, not to mention an excellent tour guide, and Sakura found herself having a wonderful time. After spending the entire day wandering around the city, they decided to sit down for some dinner. Tomoyo led them to a restaurant that didn't look terribly expensive, but not cheap either.

"Uh, Tomoyo, I don't think I have the kind of money for a place like this. Let's just go to McDonald's or something . . ."

"No way, as a first time visitor to Tokyo you just have to eat here! Their syabu syabu is amazing! Besides," she pulled a gold colored, plastic card out of her purse and winked, "it's on the T.A.C."

Sakura grinned. "Oh, well in that case, let's go in."

Tomoyo led the way, closely followed by Sakura. Syaoran brought up the rear, several paces behind them. He'd hardly said a word since they'd left the house hours ago. All morning Tomoyo and Sakura laughed and talked while Syaoran trailed behind silently. Once the trio was seated around a table, Syaoran broke his silence only to order briefly. Unfazed by his uncanny ability to remain so quiet, Tomoyo continued talking.

"So, how was your first day in the big city?"

"It's been great so far thanks to you," admitted Sakura.

"If there's anything else I can do for you just let me know."

"Well . . ." Sakura trailed of uncertainly.

Tomoyo cocked her head to the side. "What is it?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about the other members of the T.A.C. I know Mr. Nakamura told me everybody's position and stuff but I'd kind of like to know more about them since they are now my team members."

Tomoyo's face lit up, she was only too obliged to comply with Sakura's request. Tomoyo wasn't into gossip per se, but she did like delivering the facts. Perhaps it was a trait that developed from all the time she'd spent setting the record straight about the arigami to the public and the media, she wasn't sure. She had a knack for reading people too so that just made her all the more perfect to give Sakura the four-one-one.

"No problem! Let's see . . . Meilin's pretty nice, although she can be a little cynical at times. And you should definitely be warned that she's really competitive. She doesn't mean any harm by it, but she does get carried away sometimes. She just likes to try to be the best in everything she does."

Tomoyo's lips curved up in a smile as Nakuru came to mind.

"Nakuru's a trip! She's very intelligent but you'd never know it from the way she acts since she's so humble about it. She's very spontaneous and acts silly a lot of the time but she's serious when a situation calls for it. She's probably the most energetic person I know. She's a reliable person and for some reason she's madly in love with Toya despite the fact that he wouldn't give her the time of day in a clock shop. I really don't know why he refuses to go out with her, it's not everyday that you meet someone as smart, pretty, and out going as Nakuru. And I know he finds her attractive, I've caught him staring when he knows she won't catch him."

Tomoyo paused as a waitress set their food on the table. Once the waitress was gone she resumed speaking.

"Toya's a pretty gruff guy. He can be rather blunt since he tends to speak without thinking and he's definitely a shoot first ask questions later kind of guy. But he's nice once you get to know him."

Syaoran let out a small grunt, seemingly disagreeing with Tomoyo's statement.

"He and Meilin bicker a lot, but they do care about each other. She's like his little sister. Yukito's very gentle and friendly. He and Toya have been best friends for a really long time which is funny since they are practically complete opposites. An interesting fact about Yukito is that I've never heard him mention a type of food he doesn't like. He's a real bottomless pit."

Sakura let out a giggle as she started to dip a raw piece of pork into the hot pot in the middle of the table. She swished it around to cook it as she listened on.

"And Eriol . . . well, I don't really know what to say about him . . . He's a really hard person to read. He's smart and laid back. No matter the situation we are in, he's always got this calm aura about him, almost like nothing fazes him. He's generally very polite, the picture of a true gentleman. Dr. Mizuki is a genius and very kind. She's the best doctor around. And Mr. Nakamura is a good leader, very wise." Tomoyo shrugged, nothing left to say. "And that's the group in a nutshell."

With no one left to talk about, Tomoyo lapsed into silence and ate her food. The food was delicious and Sakura contented herself to enjoy the meal.

**xXxXxXx**

As soon as the trio finished their meal they hit the streets to see more sights. Tomoyo insisted on seeing certain things at night as they simply looked better that way.

"Tokyo tower is absolutely breathtaking at night when it's all lit up!" said Tomoyo as she led the way.

An electronic ringing filled the air and Tomoyo reached into her purse for her cell phone. Upon answering it she stopped walking to talk to the person on the other end of the line. A few minutes later she hung up and looked at Sakura apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but an impromptu press conference was just called together and I have to go to do some more damage control on the arigami attack from yesterday. If I don't then the story will get misconstrued and things will get out of hand . . ."

Sakura shook her head. "It's okay, Tomoyo, I understand, it's your job after all. Go do whatever you gotta do. I appreciate all the time you've spent with me as it is!" Sakura said earnestly.

Tomoyo gave Sakura a quick hug and called a taxi. Sakura watched her go and then shuffled her feet uncomfortably. With Tomoyo gone it was just her and Syaoran. She started to walk again and Syaoran trailed behind as he had been doing all day. Desperate to alleviate some of the tension between them, Sakura smiled pleasantly at Syaoran and spoke.

"I've been meaning to thank you."

A look of confusion passed over his otherwise reserved face.

"You know, for saving me yesterday," she clarified.

Syaoran stared back coolly before finally saying, "I was only doing my job."

Sakura looked a little hurt but decided to let it pass. After all, Syaoran didn't even know her, so he had no obligation to her whatsoever. The pair headed for the subway and boarded a waiting train. Once the train was in motion Sakura tried talking to him again.

"So, where should we go next?"

"What're you asking me for? I'm not the one who wanted to go sight seeing in Tokyo. I'm just here because I have to be. So you tell me where we're going," he replied, turning to stare out the window.

"Well how about Tokyo Tower?"

"Whatever."

Sakura felt herself getting slightly agitated. She knew Syaoran didn't really want to be out with her, his attitude made that quite clear. So she figured the least she could do was go see something he liked, that way he wouldn't be so bored, but he wasn't being very cooperative.

"Listen, we didn't exactly get off on the right foot, maybe we could start over and try to be friends-"

"Don't bother; our relationship is strictly business-related. Just because I have to spend my time with you doesn't mean I have to like you, Kushinada," Syaoran said curtly, not even sparing Sakura a glance.

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. "My name is Sakura."

"Like it matters."

"Excuse me? Just what do you mean by that, huh?" Sakura demanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Syaoran asked in a snotty tone as he turned to her. "The only reason anyone even cares about you right now is because you can stop the arigami, Kushinada," he finished, using the term again deliberately.

"Stop calling me that," Sakura ground out.

Syaoran smirked. "You're just as annoying as most teenage girls, maybe even more so."

"Well, if I'm so awful to be around, then why did you come?"

"Because it's my job!" Syaoran actually shouted, frustrated, getting into the argument that was quickly spinning out of control. The train came to a stop and passengers shuffled past the pair for the exit, trying not to stare.

"So why'd you take it? You could have done something else in the T.A.C. You didn't have to take the position of being my bodyguard!"

"Mr. Nakamura assigned me to this position because I'm the most qualified for the job, that's why!"

Sakura glared at the boy next to her. "I'd rather be stuck with someone less qualified to protect me then to be stuck with some like you!"

Syaoran snarled maliciously. "What would you know? You're just the stupid sacrifice! If I had my way they'd sacrifice you right now and be done with it! After all, that's really all you're good for anyway!"

The nasty comment had the desired effect Syaoran wanted it to, the look on Sakura's face showed that. Sakura could feel tears welling up in her eyes but she blinked them back. She wouldn't dare show such a sign of weakness in front of him. That would just give Syaoran more mean things to say. To Syaoran's surprise, the hurt look on Sakura's face didn't bring him the satisfaction he thought it would. Instead it actually made him feel kind of bad.

Sakura averted her gaze to the floor silently. Syaoran closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the window behind them. A few seconds later, Syaoran felt the row of seats he was occupying shift slightly. He turned to look for the cause and saw Sakura run out of the train doors without even a glance back. Syaoran jumped to his feet and moved to follow after her but the doors slammed shut and the train started to move again before he could exit it.

"Damn it!" he cursed vehemently as he watched Sakura's lithe form disappear up the stairs leading to the street.

Unable to do anything for the moment he sat back down in a huff. Fujitaka hadn't bothered to get her a company cell phone yet since she was supposed to be with Syaoran at all times. And since no one would have thought she would deliberately run away from him that seemed like a sound decision. He decided to get off at the next stop and head for Tokyo Tower as that was the tourist attraction Sakura mentioned before their spat. Syaoran hoped that was where she was going because he didn't have a clue as to where she'd go otherwise.

He slouched down in his chair impatiently waiting for the next stop. _Stupid girl, of all the times for her to run off without me she had to go and do it after dark._

She couldn't have picked a worse time to run away by herself. The arigami were much more active during the night. He could only hope that he found Sakura before they did.

**xXxXxXx**

As soon as Sakura exited the subway station she let the tears she'd been holding back fall freely from her eyes. She knew Syaoran wasn't thrilled to have the responsibility of guarding her, but he didn't have to come right out and say it so harshly. And he not only didn't care if she was sacrificed, but he wanted her to be! She'd never been treated so poorly in her life. After a few minutes, she dried her eyes and started asking other pedestrians for directions to Tokyo Tower. She refused to let her row with Syaoran ruin the rest of her evening.

_If he doesn't want to waste anymore of his precious time with me then I'll see the rest of the sights on my own, _she thought bitterly._ I'm seventeen; I can take care of myself. _

Once she knew where she had to go she hopped on the first bus that could take her to her destination. Upon seeing the grand tower sparkling with lights against the dark evening sky, Sakura temporarily forgot her misery. She was glad that Tomoyo suggested waiting to visit Tokyo Tower until it was dark out, it was worth the wait. Sakura headed inside the large glass doors to check it out.

Somewhere else not far from Tokyo Tower, a stray dog was nosing through the trash cans lined up in an alley. A faint bluish glow behind one of the cans caught its attention. The dog stopped his search for scraps and approached the glow curiously. As it went to sniff the object emitting the mysterious glow it suddenly yelped in surprise as a small blue seed attached itself to its face. The dog grew twice its size and its bones started to jut out of its body at odd angles. Its fur fell off in certain places and its eyes began to glow a sickening red. A deep growl rumbled in its throat. Saliva oozed over its sharp fangs and onto the gravel.

_**I can feel your presence, Kushinada . . .**_

The seed glowed, and then, in the blink of an eye, the arigami infested dog took off for Tokyo Tower.

**xXxXxXx**

Sakura was walking through the holographic picture museum one floor up with several other patrons. Before she could move to the next picture, the mitama on her chest started to radiate a vibrant pink glow.

"Huh? What the-"

The glow was so bright it could be seen through her layered shirts. Sakura felt the curious gazes of the people around her and she quickly zipped her black windbreaker all the way up to try and hide it. A slight glow could still be seen despite the extra layer of cloth covering it. She sweat dropped as the other tourists started to point and whisper. Sakura put her hands over the mitama shielding it further. She wished it would stop; she didn't like being the center of attention. The vibrant pink glow faded just as suddenly as it had started. Sakura sighed in relief, but it was short lived, however. The sound of glass being broken mixed with chortled screams drifted up from the floor below.

_That can't be good . . . _

A shrill ringing filled the building. The screaming alarm caused the people within the gallery to panic. Everyone pushed for the exit immediately. Once through the doors, Sakura headed down the stairs with the other patrons. She reached the ground floor and made for the front doors but stopped when she saw the hideously deformed dog blocking them. It snarled at her and broke into a run. The other panic stricken individuals were ignored, its eyes locked on Sakura. She doubled back and made for the stairs, but they were too crowd with people coming down for her to go up so she ran for the closest observation deck elevator instead. There were only two stops in the elevator, the first observation deck three-fourths of the way up, and the one at the very top. She slammed her finger on the button for the first deck repeatedly, willing the doors to close faster as the arigami rushed at her. The doors closed just in time and Sakura sagged against the elevator wall as the metal box began to ascend.

**xXxXxXx**

An alarm went off at the T.A.C. building, interrupting the current discussion the team was having. Nakuru ran over to her computer and started typing away. The T.A.C. had a direct link to the metropolitan police station's computer system, courtesy of Eriol's hacking ability. Now, any time an emergency call was made to the police station regarding a strange phenomenon, an alarm sounded at the T.A.C. to alert them.

"You're not going to like this, Sir!" she said to Fujitaka.

"Well, where's the attack?" Toya grunted.

"At Tokyo Tower!"

"You don't think Sakura and the others went sight seeing there do you?" Meilin asked apprehensively.

"I wouldn't doubt it for a second," Kaho admitted.

Without another word the team got there things together and headed out.

**xXxXxXx**

Syaoran approached Tokyo Tower. A mob of people were shoving their way through the broken glass doors, their frantic screams about a monster mixing with the high pitched alarm.

"Shit . . ."

Syaoran tried to get in the building, but it was next to impossible with all the tourists and employees rushing out of it. Inside the tower, the doors to the elevator opened and Sakura hit the emergency stop button before running out onto the deck. The view outside the window was breathtaking but she didn't have time to stop and admire it. The elevator was stopped, but the arigami could still use the stairs to come up after her or one of the other elevators. After hitting the emergency stop on the second elevator she ran around the observation deck, in need of stuff to block the exit with. She was able to wheel a souvenir cart in front of the doors but there was little else she could use. Within moments the big, metallic doors began to reverberate, and a rhythmic banging noise could be heard around the quiet deck.

Desperate to escape, Sakura grabbed the metal tower of postcards stationed in the main gift shop. She ran for the observation deck windows and threw it with all her might, sending postcards fluttering around the area. A big spider web crack appeared when the metal tower connected with the glass, but the glass stayed together. Just as Sakura picked it up to try again the staircase doors burst open. The gift cart flew across the floor, scattering t-shirts, phone charms, and miniature Tokyo Tower models everywhere. The arigami dog stalked through the doors baring its teeth at the sight of her.

With another tremendous heave the postcard tower shattered the glass. Without a second thought, Sakura ran for the window and jumped. From the ground Syaoran, along with the crowd of people brave enough to stick around looked up at the sound of shattering glass. A few seconds after the tower sailed through the window they saw Sakura come flying out the window after it. There were screams from the crowd as they all pointed up at her. Sakura was able to grab onto one of the orange-red beams that the tower was constructed of. Syaoran cursed under his breath as he saw the arigami in the broken window looking for a beam to jump to so it could follow suit. Sakura clutched the beam tightly, her body dangling.

_Okay, I'm out the window . . . now what the hell do I do!_

She tried to bring her legs up to wrap them around the thick beam, but she didn't possess the strength or muscle necessary for such a tactic. The arigami jumped out the window landing on a nearby beam. It didn't take it long to reach the beam Sakura was clinging to.

_**Looks like you've run out of options**__**, Kushinada. You're mine!**_

The arigami reached out to snag her with its claws.

"Never!" Sakura spit.

She released her hold on the beam.

A scream erupted from her throat as her body plummeted towards the ground. She realized she was going to die, but at least this way her death wouldn't be wasted, as the arigami would die with her. The thought comforted her slightly as she waited for her body to smear itself across the cold pavement, bringing her short life to an end. She watched as the blacktop of the parking lot came increasingly closer with every second.

On the ground, Syaoran plunged a hand down the neck of his shirt and quickly pulled out a cord with a big golden, circular charm dangling from it. Removing it from around his neck, he closed his eyes in concentration and a sword materialized out of thin air. The necklace charm was now the summoned sword's tassel. He took out a yellowish strip of paper with cursive kanji scrawled across it. It was an ofuda. He threw it out in front of him and hit the side of his sword against it.

"Forces of nature come to my aid! Element, wind!"

A strong gust of wind rushed forth from the paper and up to meet Sakura. Her momentum began to slow. She landed gently on the ground, wind swirling around her, pulling her long hair free from the ponytail it had been in and tousling it around her face. Sakura had seen Syaoran use the elemental paper.

_So that's why he choos__es a sword, he can do some kind of magic with it!_

"Are you hurt?" he asked, his eyes actually showing a speck of concern.

The wind died down and Sakura glanced at Syaoran, for once her emotions unreadable.

"No," she said, her voice monotone.

"Good, now what the hell were you thinking! Jumping out a window like that, are you insane!" Syaoran yelled.

"I didn't have a choice, I had no where else to go!"

"Well, if you hadn't ditched me on the subway you wouldn't have ended up in that position in the first place!" before Sakura could respond Syaoran continued, slightly calmer. "We can argue later, right now we need to get out of-"

_**Kushinada!**_

Syaoran and Sakura looked up at the angry voice of the arigami. It was jumping from beam to beam, making its way down to them. Once it was close enough it leaped off the tower and landed on the ground fiercely, scattering the crowd that had developed. Syaoran stepped in front of Sakura, sword raised, ready to confront the beast head on. Before anyone could move, two cars skidded to a halt a few feet away. As soon as they stopped the rest of the T.A.C. members (minus Tomoyo) jumped out. Toya cocked his gun, took aim, and fired. Though his first shot hit the seed dead center and broke it, he continued to fire at the body, a smirk planted on his face.

"You can stop now, Toya dear, it's dead," Nakuru said from behind him.

Meilin rolled her eyes. "Mutilated is more like it . . ."

Eriol said, "Well that was easy compared to the last battle we had with the arigami."

"True. This one was a lot smaller though," Nakuru pointed out.

"Nice shooting, Toya," Yukito praised. "You broke the seed on your first shot!"

"Yeah, it was nice wasn't it?" said Toya, not at all being modest.

"Are you two alright?" Kaho asked her first aid kit ready.

Sakura nodded at the woman. "Yeah, we're fine."

Fujitaka pointed at the motionless body on the ground. "Let's get this body back to the lab. Then we can all go home. The tests can wait until tomorrow."

Meilin stretched. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Everyone shuffled for one of the two cars. Syaoran stared at Sakura as she brushed passed him. She glanced back but said nothing as she got in the car. Syaoran wordlessly followed suit. Neither spoke to the other for the rest of the evening.

**To be continued . . . **

**Next time:** _Chapter 4: Extra Curricular Activities _It's Sakura's first day at Seijou High. Meilin shows her competitive side, Sakura becomes the fixation of most of the students, and a new threat looms on the horizon.

**A/N: **Well that's chapter 3. It's one of the longer ones. I originally wrote this story 9 yrs ago shortly after spending a week in Tokyo with my mom (we got free plane tickets, long story lol). I was recently in Japan again for 2 wks in April and I revisited Tokyo Tower and it has changed A LOT! It's no longer a radio tower, now it's just a tourist attraction (Tokyo has a better tower now for radio waves) and for its 50th anniversary they fixed the first observation deck up real nice meaning it was significantly different when I wrote this story. My story behind the holographic art museum at Tokyo Tower is kind of funny. The first time my mom and I walked through it we didn't see anything and we didn't get it. Then my mom bent down to tie her shoe and saw a hologram in one of the frames. It turns out that, as Americans, we were too tall to see the holograms! So we went back to the beginning and actually had to slouch down as we went through to see the pictures (and I'm not tall, I'm only 5'2") lol We must have looked so silly to all the Japanese people hahaha Just thought I'd share that :) I'll see you next Wednesday as usual.

_**SakuraJade**_


	4. Extra Curricular Activites

**A/N: **You were right on target in your PM to me Tallie14! You'll see what I mean :) Other than her and pyscho-pyro-chick, feedback still sucks . . . I'm not going to bother getting a head start on the second arc unless more of you start to leave feedback! So kiss the weekly updates goodbye after chapter 10.

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

_Note: _Schools in Japan go 6 days a week with a half a day on Saturday. However, in recent years, many schools have dropped the half day, giving students two day weekends like we do here in the U.S.

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

**Defying Destiny**

_Chapter 4: Extracurricular Activities_

"Sakura, Sakura are you awake?"

The girl in question rolled over in her bed and cracked an eye open at the noise coming from the other side of her closed door. It was a warm, fatherly voice. A gentle knock sounded followed by the same voice.

"Sakura, you have to get moving so you can get to school on time. Syaoran's already ready to go."

It was Fujitaka. Sakura sprang up from her bed and rushed to her closet to get ready. It never failed, she was always running late. She simply was not a morning person. Today was not the day to over sleep though. After all, it was her first day in her new school and a bad first impression was the last thing she wanted. Sakura took a garment bag out of her closet. It was the same bag that Tomoyo had brought her two days ago on Saturday. Since Seijou High had abolished the half day of school on Saturdays, she had yet to look inside the garment bag. Now that it was Monday she needed the outfit inside, the Seijou High school uniform. She laid the bag on her bed gently and unzipped it. She unconsciously sighed in relief. Sakura had seen some ugly school uniforms and she was grateful that this one was actually pretty decent. The Tomoeda High uniforms weren't too bad, but she always felt a little childish in the pleated skirt and sailor suit blouse, it was so middle school. This uniform also consisted of a pleated skirt, although the pleats were much smaller than the large ones of her old uniform. The long sleeved, white collared shirt was missing the infamous sailor backing plus it had a necktie and blazer for a more grown up look. The necktie was navy blue while the blazer was a powder blue with a golden shield insignia over the left breast – the school's crest – and the navy blue skirt stopped a little above the knee. She donned the outfit, happy with the way it fit her body, and added a pair of white knee socks and the brown, Mary Jane shoes she used to wear with her old uniform to complete the ensemble. After dressing she quickly tossed her long hair into a high ponytail tied off with a white ribbon. Once she was dressed she hurried down to the kitchen.

Syaoran was waiting there wearing the same powder blue blazer, navy blue necktie, and white dress shirt that she was. A pair of navy blue slacks and brown penny loafers accompanied the jacket. His impatience was evident from the rapid taping of his right foot.

"Sorry, I over slept," Sakura apologized.

He glanced at her then wordlessly headed for the back door. Sakura snagged a bottle of juice from the fridge and a piece of toast from the stack Fukitaka had set out on the table before she ran after him. He was her ride but she had no doubts that he'd take off without her if she dawdled any longer, regardless of his job as her bodyguard. She followed him into the garage and over to a sleek, silver coupe. Sakura pushed the passenger seat forward and moved for the backseat.

"What are you doing?"

Sakura stood erect and looked over the hood of the sporty car at Syaoran, a look of surprise on her face at the sound of his voice. That was the most he'd said to her since there fight on Saturday.

"I'm not your chuffer. Get in the front seat," he ordered as he got in and started the engine.

Sakura sank into the passenger seat without looking at him. Since they were picking Tomoyo and Meilin up on their way to the school, she figured one of them could sit next to him since she preferred not to. That choice being out, she contented herself to mutely staring out the window. Tomoyo didn't live terribly far and they reached her house in minutes. Sakura stared in awe at the mansion Syaoran pulled up to.

_I had no idea Tomoyo was so wealthy . . . _Sakura thought.

Just as they reached the end of the long driveway Tomoyo came bounding out the front door, her satchel swing from her hand in sync with her stride. She squeezed into the back seat from Syaoran's side and they were off to pick up the final member of their party. Tomoyo leaned her head up front and smiled at Sakura.

"Hey, you look great in our school uniform, Sakura!"

"Well it doesn't hurt that you got me the perfect size," Sakura admitted.

Tomoyo shrugged. "I do have a knack when it comes to clothing."

Tomoyo and Sakura chatted lightly along the drive. When they reached Meilin's place she was already sitting on the front porch of her house waiting. Sakura opened her door to let her in. She'd hardly gotten both feet in the car when Syaoran put the car in reverse and started heading out of the driveway. Sakura hurriedly shut the door and shot Syaoran a dirty look.

Meilin leaned between the seats and shouted, "What the hell, Syaoran?!"

"We're late," was his simple reply.

"I know punctuality is an obsession of yours, but you could at least wait until all your passengers are fully in the car!"

"Well you can thank this one here," he jerked his head at Sakura, "she's the reason we're running late in the first place."

Meilin rolled her eyes but didn't bother to respond verbally. Syaoran pulled out of the driveway and sped down the street.

**xXxXxXx**

The four teenagers hurried through the parking lot for the school building. It was at least twice the size of Sakura's last high school, fancier looking too. It almost had a European feel to it with the tall steeples on the roof and the bell tower in the front courtyard. Syaoran opened one of the front doors and the three girls stepped through. Tomoyo and Meilin headed for their homeroom while Syaoran led Sakura to the main office. When Meilin and Tomoyo reached their second floor classroom, the teacher was still sitting at his desk getting today's lesson in order. They quietly headed for their desks near the back of the room along the same wall as the windows. Eriol was already sitting at his desk behind Tomoyo's. He raised an eye brow at them as they took their seats.

Eriol leaned forward slightly and said, "Cutting it kind of close there aren't you ladies?"

Tomoyo turned in her chair to reply. "Hey we made it didn't we?"

"Yeah, no thanks to Syaoran's reckless driving," Meilin grumbled from her seat on Tomoyo's right.

Eriol chuckled lightly. "In that case I'm really glad I live within walking distance."

Meilin made a face before turning back to face the front of the class. A few minutes after the teacher began his lecture for the day, the door opened and Syaoran walked in followed by Sakura. The students began to talk in a hushed whisper about the unfamiliar face. Syaoran silently handed the teacher a slip of pink paper and then headed to his seat on Eriol's left. The man skimmed the paper before turning to address his students.

"Well class, it seems a new student will be joining us today. Please make her feel welcome." He beckoned Sakura over to him. "I'm Mr. Terada. Please introduce yourself to us."

Sakura faced the class nervously. "Uh, hello . . . m-my name is Sakura Kinomoto," she bowed. "I just moved here from Tomoeda and will be working for the T.A.C. with some of your fellow classmates," she finished, sticking to the story Fujitaka told her to follow.

As far as anyone else was concerned, Sakura was just another member of the T.A.C. To explain Syaoran's constant hovering he was named her partner rather than bodyguard. If the public knew her real identity things would become a lot more difficult, not to mention dangerous. The T.A.C. would have more to protect Sakura from than the arigami. Any random citizen of Japan could try to be the world's savior by killing Sakura themselves. It was definitely better to keep her identity a secret.

Mr. Terada nodded. "Thank you, Sakura. Please take the empty seat in front of Syaoran."

As Sakura headed for the empty seat the students continued their whispering and many of the boys followed her figure appreciatively with their eyes, causing a red hue to grace her cheeks. Sakura wasn't too thrilled that Syaoran would be glaring at the back of her head everyday but she was happy that her seat was between Tomoyo and the windows.

**xXxXxXx**

Sakura slipped out of her pleated skirt with a smile on her face. It was time for gym, one of the few classes she excelled in and actually liked. She was in the girls' locker room donning her gym uniform. When she had the white t-shirt and short, navy blue spandex shorts on she headed out to warm up with everyone else. Gymnastics equipment was set up on one half of the gym. On the other half, Sakura could see the boys starting a game of basketball. While the girls were stretching their teacher spoke.

"Alright girls, today we are starting our gymnastics unit."

A chorus of groans rang out from the less athletic ladies. Sakura was excited, she loved gymnastics. The teacher split them into small groups and explained what they would be doing at each piece of equipment before sending them to their stations. In ten minutes they would rotate until each group had done each station. By chance, Sakura ended up in the same group as Meilin. Their group was sent to the tumbling mats first. Sakura got in line behind Meilin and waited for her turn. They were all supposed to do three cartwheels in a row. It was simple enough, and yet most of the girls couldn't do one perfect cartwheel let alone three. When Meilin's turn came she straightened out her body and flawlessly completed three cartwheels. She walked back to the line with a cocky smirk while the other girls in the group praised her perfection.

"You're good, Meilin," Sakura said sweetly.

"Thanks, cartwheels are nothing, really," she responded with a flick of her sleek, black hair.

Sakura agreed and she proved that when she preformed three perfect cartwheels next. The other girls in the group started speaking excitedly about the newcomer.

"She's as good as Meilin!"

"Maybe better!"

"Looks like Meilin's finally got some competition!"

Meilin glowered at the comments and stomped over to Sakura.

"You're pretty good," she grudgingly admitted.

Sakura smiled. "Thanks."

"Cartwheels aren't really impressive though, anybody can do a cartwheel. Can you do this?" Meilin asked as she did a front hand spring.

With a smile Sakura mimicked her perfectly, much to Meilin's irritation. The gym teacher noticed and addressed both girls.

"Well, it looks like you two know more than just cartwheels. Care to show the rest of us some more advanced moves?"

"With pleasure!" Meilin answered and headed to an open spot on the floor where she had room to run.

Sakura sweat dropped and followed after her. _Tomoyo wasn't kidding, Meilin is really competitive . . . _

And before long, a series of three cartwheels turned into an intricate competition of flips, tucks, and hand springs. Each set they did was more complicated than the last and they had drawn the attention of everyone in the gym, the boys' class included. And then the bell rang, ending class. It was decided by everyone watching that Sakura and Meilin were equally matched.

Meilin walked over to Sakura and swiped her brow with the back of her hand. "I guess it's a tie."

Sakura smiled but Meilin continued before she could speak. "But I'm gonna come up with a really complex routine next time we do gymnastics and wipe the floor with you!"

A small sweat drop appeared on Sakura's head and she followed Meilin towards the locker room. As she went, a girl with light brown pigtails and another girl with short dark brown hair and glasses where staring at her and talking, a look of interest on their faces.

**xXxXxXx**

Shortly after gym class ended lunch came around. Sakura found herself seated at a rounded table with the other members of the T.A.C. She sat next to Tomoyo with Syaoran on her other side, eating in his usual silence. She'd hardly started into the lunch she'd brought when two girls from her gym class approached the table. Everyone stopped their conversations and stared at the pair.

"You're name's Sakura, right?" the girl with glasses and short, chocolate brown hair inquired.

"Um, yeah . . ." Sakura trailed off unsurely.

The girl with tawny colored pigtails smiled as she said, "We wanted to talk to you about your performance in gym earlier. I'm Chiharu and this is Naoko, we're on the cheerleading squad and we'd love for you to join!"

Sakura looked around the table at her companions and they stared right back, the same surprised look on their faces.

"With your gymnastics skills you'd be perfect for cheerleading!" Naoko exclaimed. "Did you ever think about being a cheerleader?"

"Well, too be honest, I was on the squad at my old school," Sakura replied, still surprised by the sudden invitation.

Chiharu clasped her hands in happiness. "Then you already have experience generating school spirit too! Oh please say you'll join!"

"Uh, sure, I guess. Sounds like fun," Sakura smiled.

"Great, then come to the soccer field as soon as classes are over with. It's behind the school."

"Okay I'll see you then."

The two girls smiled one more time before heading back to their own table. Once they were out of ear shot Syaoran spoke.

"So you're gonna be a cheerleader now? Being the kushinada isn't enough, huh?"

Sakura sneered at him in response. "So what if I am? You got a problem with that?"

Before an argument could break out between the two, Tomoyo said, "I think you'll be a great cheerleader, Sakura."

"Thanks," Sakura replied, replacing her sneer with a grin. Then she glanced at Meilin with curious eyes. "What about you, Meilin?"

Meilin paused, the piece of lettuce she'd speared with her fork half way to her glossy lips. "What about me?"

"Well, are you on the cheerleading squad?"

A burst of laughter was her answer.

"So that's a no then?"

"Uh, yeah, a big 'no'."

"Well why? I mean you're great at gymnastics."

"She's got the moves, it's the school spirit she's lacking," Tomoyo jeered.

Meilin shot her a glare but kept eating her garden salad.

"So then that means you won't join the squad with me?" Sakura asked.

"No way," Meilin responded flatly, completely uninterested in the conversation.

Sakura's face fell in disappointment. She didn't know Meilin very well but she didn't know the other girls at all so she was hoping Meilin would join with her. Her face sudden lit up as an idea hit her. If she couldn't get Meilin to join willingly, maybe she could trick her into joining by appealing to her competitive side.

"That's okay I guess," Sakura said, feigning indifference, "it's not exactly easy to be a cheerleader so I could understand if the role intimidates you."

Meilin's head snapped up, her lunch instantly forgotten. "Excuse me? I am _not_ intimidated."

"If you say so . . ."

"I'm not!"

Sure . . ."

"You don't believe me?!"

Sakura simply shrugged her shoulders.

Meilin growled under her breath. "I'll prove it to you! I'm coming with you after school!"

"If you really think you can handle it," Sakura replied nonchalantly, holding back a smile. Meilin was easier to goad than she thought.

"Oh I can handle it, you just watch me!" Meilin shouted defiantly before furiously digging into what was left of her salad.

Sakura smiled triumphantly while Tomoyo giggled quietly at the exchange.

**xXxXxXx**

"I can't believe I'm doing this . . ." Meilin whined as she looked down at her body, clad in the Seijou High cheerleading uniform.

It consisted of two pieces, a powder blue pleated skirt – much shorter than the uniform skirt with bigger pleats – and a sleeveless crop top that clearly showed her midriff. The top was white with powder blue trimming that matched the skirt. Ankle socks and white tennis shoes completed the uniform.

Sakura approached her wearing an identical uniform. "These are cute," she said with a smile as she looked at their new uniforms appreciatively. "I like these colors way better than Tomoeda High's. Brown and gold, blah, who thought those colors look good together?" Sakura crinkled her nose in distaste.

The other girls from the squad approached them for introductions and practice was soon under way. Syaoran sat in the bleachers absentmindedly watching the cheerleading practice and the soccer practice taking place parallel to the cheerleaders. Tomoyo and Eriol sat a few feet away visiting.

He glowered at the pair, specifically Eriol as he said, "I'm here because I have to be but I don't understand why you two are here."

"Come on, Syaoran, Meilin as a cheerleader?! How could I miss this?" Tomoyo beamed, her trusty camcorder in her hand, recording the practice. "Besides, I wanted to support Sakura."

"Fine then what's your excuse?" he asked Eriol directly.

"Why does my reason have to be any different?" Eriol asked in return, his trademark calm smile in place.

That only fueled Syaoran's irritation. "You know what? You-"

Syaoran broke off mid sentence and abruptly jumped into the air, smashing the soccer ball that was flying at his head with a fierce kick. It whizzed across the field at such a high velocity that the goalie jumped out of its way. It slammed into the goal on the other side of the field with such force it tore a hole in the net. Everyone whispered at the event that just transpired. Syaoran simply sat back down, his arms crossed over his chest, an impassive look on his handsome face.

**xXxXxXx**

Practice was over with for the day and Meilin and Sakura were changing back into their regular school uniforms. As they emerged from the gym they saw some guys from the soccer team talking to Syaoran in the bleachers. He shook his head adamantly and with a dejected look they finally walked away.

"What was that all about?" Meilin asked as they all started for the parking lot. Eriol walked with them towards their car.

"Those guys were really impressed with Syaoran's kick earlier. They asked him if he'd like to join the team," Tomoyo supplied.

"So are you going to?" Sakura asked.

"No."

"Why not? You'd probably be great," she admitted despite her slight dislike for the boy.

"I don't have time for such frivolous activities. Babysitting you is a full time job as it is, Kushinada," he spit.

Sakura gritted her teeth at his remark. "Well excuse me, Li," she huffed, deliberately using his last name. "But I think it'd be good for you. You're so uptight and high strung; sports participation is probably just what you need to relax a little, blow off some steam."

"Or I could just go kill some arigami."

"That always works for me," Meilin joked with a smirk.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Syaoran was such a jerk, but she still couldn't help feeling a little guilty. Watching out for her _was_ a full time job, so she could see why he wouldn't feel like he had the time, or maybe even the energy, to play soccer as well. And that was a shame because he seemed like a good candidate for the team. It was a waste of talent and unfair to him. Shouldn't he get the chance to be as close to a normal teenager as possible? That's what she was doing after all, what with joining the cheerleading squad. She was the kushinada, but she wasn't going to let that rob her of a normal life, especially if she didn't have much time left. She wanted to continue living as close to a typical teenage life as possible and she felt Syaoran should do the same. All the members of the T.A.C. were far from average but they could still try to lead relatively ordinary lives. Everything didn't have to revolve around the arigami and her. As they were about to get in the car Sakura stopped abruptly, dropping her satchel to the ground, her hands gripping her collar bone to block the pinkish glow that had begun to emanate from the seed on her chest.

_That stupid seed is doing that glowing thing again! Why does it do this? _she thought to herself perturbed, still covering up the mitama on her chest so the others wouldn't see.

She still wasn't sure why it would glow at random. It reminded her of those digital watches with alarms that would go off for seemingly no reason no matter how many times it was fiddled with. Not knowing what the glowing meant, Sakura was reluctant to indulge the others and so opted to keep it a secret for now.

"Yo, Sakura, what's the hold up?" Meilin asked impatiently.

Sakura scanned the parking lot but saw no one else around. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Syaoran tense at her behavior, one hand on his sword charm, ready to call it forth in a second. The glowing feeling suddenly stopped and after another look around Sakura relaxed her posture.

"Well?"

_Maybe I should tell them . . . _She looked at Meilin and waved dismissively. "No hold up, it's nothing."

Maybe not.

Meilin eyed her suspiciously but climbed into the car with everyone else. As the car pulled away from the school, a tall figure peered around the coolant system on the school roof, his malicious, pale blue eyes following the car out of the parking lot. His long silvery hair whipped around in the wind while his white robes billowed around his lean figure.

The fingers of his right hand curled into a tight fist, the skin over his knuckles growing even whiter than before. A glare of light from the setting sun reflected off a blue mitama on the top side of his fist.

"Your days are numbered, Kushinada."

**xXxXxXx**

The ride home was a quiet one, other than Meilin complaining about officially being an airhead, a.k.a. a cheerleader. Syaoran pulled into the garage once they arrived home. He shut the car off and opened his door in one fluid movement. As he headed for the house, Sakura called after him.

"Li, wait a minute."

He turned to look at Sakura expectantly. She fidgeted with the hem of her blazer nervously under his piercing gaze.

"Look, uh, I don't want to be your reason for not joining the soccer team. I think you should do it, well if you want to that is."

"It doesn't matter what I want. I have to keep a constant vigilance over you. That'd be a little hard to do if I'm running around kicking a soccer ball, don't you think?" he asked flippantly.

"But that's the beauty of it. Even if you're playing soccer you'll still be by me. The soccer team and the cheerleading squad practice during the same times right next to each other. And the cheerleading squad attends all the soccer games to cheer, even the away games according to Chiharu."

Syaoran raised an eyebrow but didn't look fully convinced so Sakura continued. "Plus, Meilin will be right beside me since I got her to join the squad so I'll be by two T.A.C. members. And I'm sure the others wouldn't mind attending at least some of the games to watch you play. I mean you do seem really good."

"I _am_ really good," he corrected with a sardonic smirk.

"Then join the soccer team and prove it to us."

Sakura glided past him for the house hoping the same goading technique would work on Syaoran the way it did on Meilin.

**To be continued . . . **

**Next time:** _Chapter 5: A Dating Disaster_. Sakura goes on a date with a boy from school, but is disappointed by Syaoran's constant presence. And what date would be complete with out dinner, a stroll through the park, and a run in with the arigami?

**A/N: **Any takers as to who the figure on the roof was? Don't forget to review please!

_**SakuraJade**_


	5. A Dating Disaster

**A/N: **Hey everyone. So sorry about not updating last Wednesday, but my PC got a really bad virus (I think it came from MangaFox so I strongly suggest not going on that site!) and the virus got onto my flash drive which had my fanfic files. I ended up having to burn all my documents, pictures, music, etc. to CDs (12 total) and crash my PC. Luckily I was able to get my fanfic and resume junk off my jump drive and reformat it. I did have backup copies of this story on a different thumb drive but those chapters haven't been proofed as much so I didn't want to upload them unless I couldn't get these back. Anyway here's the update that should have been posted last week. Again, sorry for the delay.

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

**Defying Destiny**

_Chapter 5: A Dating Disaster_

"The mutation the host undergoes once the arigami latches on is amazing," Kaho said as she examined the corpse of the dog that attacked Sakura at Tokyo Tower previously. "Everything in the body has been genetically altered to resemble the genetic make up of a plant, it's incredible."

Sakura stared at the corpse uncomfortably. Even though she knew it was dead she couldn't help feeling like it could attack her at any given moment. With that feeling plaguing her, she decided to keep her distance, opting to stand near the exit. Syaoran was parked in the corner, his back up against the wall, arms crossed. He watched Kaho examine the body with a look of indifference on his face.

"From what we've gathered, "Kaho continued, "it seems that when a seed mutates its host, what it's doing is duplicating and overriding the control functions of the host's brain."

"Yeah, that's great, Dr. Mizuki, but does it reveal any special weaknesses we could use to fight them?" Meilin asked clearly not interested in the science behind the monster on the table.

The doctor shook her head. "No I'm afraid, at least not yet. I'm going to examine this a little more and see if anything else comes up. I'll let you guys know immediately if I find anything. To be honest, our best bet would be to capture a live one and then run tests."

Meilin snorted, "Ha! Fat chance. Killing them is hard enough as it is, I can't imagine trying to subdue it but not kill it!"

"Well, we could do it I'm sure," Nakuru argued, "But it would definitely be a challenge."

Toya cracked his knuckles, a dangerous glint in his eye. "Well, I like a challenge."

Nakuru flashed him a flirty smile. "Me too," she said with a wink, indicating her drive to continuously pursue him despite his lack of interest in her.

Toya grunted and avoided eye contact with her.

Syaoran pushed off from the wall. "Guys we have to go or we'll be late for school."

Meilin rolled her eyes. "And heaven forbid that happen," she muttered as she moved to follow.

Sakura chuckled slightly at Meilin's statement and trailed after the ebony haired girl.

**xXxXxXx**

Sakura's second week at Seijou High was almost at an end and things were on the up and up. Cheerleading was going well (despite Meilin's complaining), Sakura was becoming rather popular with both the male and female population of the school, and Syaoran even joined the soccer team after all. Needless to say, he was just as amazing as everyone thought he was going to be. He seemed to be enjoying it too despite himself. Sakura even saw a half smile on his face a few times during practices when he had the ball. Well, maybe it was closer to a smirk, but it was still an emotion and that made Sakura smile herself. He always seemed so devoid of feeling it actually made Sakura sad to look at him and that just wouldn't do since she had to see him all the time. Without even realizing it, Sakura had started to make it her personal mission to make Syaoran a happier person. And getting him to join the soccer team was apparently the first step. They still didn't get along per se, especially since Syaoran still referred to her as 'Kushinada' rather than by her name, to which Sakura would call him by his last name as a show of how impersonally she regarded him. Sakura wouldn't consider them friends by any stretch of the imagination, but it was still something.

During study hall, Sakura sat quietly at her desk looking over her history assignment that was due next period. Suddenly a shadow fell across her paper and she looked up abruptly to see one of her fellow classmates smiling down at her. He had short, reddish brown hair that was smoothed neatly over his scalp with short bangs that were spiked up slightly. Friendly bluish-green eyes accompanied the hair.

"Hey," he said, "I'm Daisuke Iesaka."

Sakura smiled back politely. "Yeah I know, you're, um, our class president."

"Yeah, I am." He sounded pleased that Sakura knew who he was.

"And you're Sakura Kinomoto, right?"

Sakura nodded her head. "So what can I do for you?" she asked when he didn't continue.

"Well, actually, I was wondering if I could take you out this Friday."

Sakura's cheeks tinged a faint red. "You mean, like, go on a date?"

Daisuke nodded his head.

"Tomorrow?"

He smiled roguishly, "Well that would be Friday, wouldn't it?"

The red on Sakura's soft cheeks darkened two shades at his teasing.

"So? What do you say? Maybe I could take you somewhere cool, like Tokyo Tower."

"No!" Sakura practically screamed as memories of the monster that tried to attack her ran through her mind. A puzzled look crossed his face at her outburst. She cleared her throat. "I mean, I was just there last Saturday so I've seen it recently."

"Oh, well then we could just go have dinner at a restaurant in town," he offered.

Sakura smiled. "Sounds great."

Daisuke's grin widened in return. They exchanged phone numbers briefly as the bell rang to end study hall.

"Okay, so I'll see you at six o'clock then?" Sakura asked as she pocketed his number, intent on adding it to her new cell phone later.

He nodded and said, "It's a date," before heading back to his own seat.

Tomoyo was walking back to her desk when she passed Daisuke. She sat down next to Sakura with a raised eyebrow.

"And what was that all about?"

Sakura blushed. "He asked me on a date for this Friday."

Stars appeared in Tomoyo's eyes and an inhumanly high pitch squeal erupted from her throat. "Ohhhhhh, that's so sweet!!"

Sakura sweat dropped and turned her attention to the front of the classroom as their history teach entered the room.

**xXxXxXx**

"We're home!" Sakura shouted as she and Syaoran walked through the back door.

Fujitaka was in front of the stove preparing their supper. "How was practice?"

Syaoran smirked. "Pretty good, we should destroy Nanahara Prep this Saturday. But the best part," Syaoran went on, shooting Sakura a wicked grin, "was when she clubbed herself in the head with her baton."

Sakura glared daggers at her bodyguard. "Shut up, Li."

Fujitaka glanced at Sakura with concern. "Are you alright, Sakura?"

"Yeah, it's not a big deal," she replied sheepishly, one hand behind her throbbing head. "I was just a little distracted."

"By?"

"Well a guy from my class asked me to go on a date with him in study hall today. Daisuke Iesaka, he's the class president. Anyway he asked me out to dinner for tomorrow night."

The room was silent and for the first time Sakura realized that as the kushinada she might not be allowed to date.

"Uh . . . is that okay?" she asked unsurely.

Fujitaka smiled warmly. "Of course it is, Sakura."

She breathed a sigh of relief. What a bummer if he would have said no! She started for the stairs to drop her book bag off in her room when Fujitaka spoke again.

"Just make sure Syaoran is with you at all times."

Sakura froze. She felt like such an idiot, she didn't even think about Syaoran tagging along. She whirled around, mouth agape. "You mean he has to come with me on the date?"

Fujitaka nodded.

"You have to be kidding?! How romantic can a date get when you're constantly in the presence of Mr. Doom and Gloom over there?!" Sakura pointed at Syaoran and he crossed his arms over his chest with a glare. "I'm seventeen, I don't need a chaperon!"

"But you do need constant protection from the arigami," Fujitaka reminded her, "especially at night. I'm sorry, Sakura, but Syaoran is going with you or you're not going at all."

Fuming, Sakura whirled around and stomped towards the stairs.

"It's not like I wanna go with you on your stupid date you know!" Syaoran shouted after her retreating figure. The only answer he got was the sound of a door slamming.

Sakura leaned her forehead against the smooth mahogany door and took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. She turned away from the door and nearly tripped over a box lying on her floor. She looked around and noticed several other boxes littering the floor of her room. An envelope addressed to her was taped to the top of the box she almost fell over. She picked it up and waded through the other boxes. Once she sat down on her bed she opened it and scanned the contents of the letter.

_Dear Sakura,_

_How are you feeling? I'm sorry for not warning you about your destiny, and I imagine that much of this has come as a big surprise. I never said anything because I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, that you could live your life as a normal human, but I'm afraid that's not an option now as we are far from normal. As the original descendants of Princess Kushinada, our family has the power to stop the arigami, but the cost of that power is our own lives. Once you were born that power was passed on to you and now the power and the responsibilities of the kushinada rest with you alone. I know you're young and I know it's not fair, but life seldom is. Only you can stand against them. And should the time come, I know you'll do what must be done. I've entrusted you to the care of Mr. Nakamura. His agency, the T.A.C., is the only organization capable of protecting you until the arigami are destroyed. Please trust them. Everything I could find of yours I packed in the boxes that arrived with this letter. I hope having your things will at least bring you some comfort. I wish things could be different, but I'm afraid that's just how destiny works. I miss you and I love you with all my heart._

_Love your mother,_

_Nadeshiko_

_P.S. I'm sure you've been worried about your friends from Tomoeda High after your school was attacked, especially Rika. Rest assured she's fine, all the students are. There were a few injuries but no one was fatally wounded and reconstruction of the school started this week. Rika wanted me to tell you that she misses you and to let her know the moment you are back in Tomoeda._

With a sigh Sakura dropped the letter onto her bed. Most of it was stuff the T.A.C. had already told her, but it was still nice to hear from her mother. And to know that her friends were all okay after the giant arigami monster wreaked havoc on her old school last week.

_Well I guess I'd better get all these boxes unpacked since I'm going to be staying here for a while. _Sakura got to her feet and started for the closest box. _Well, on the bright side, I'll have plenty of outfits to choose from for my date with Daisuke._

**xXxXxXx**

Fujitaka walked into the T.A.C. main office with Sakura and Syaoran in tow. They all took a seat for their evening meeting. Nakuru stood up to address everyone present.

"Eriol and I hacked into the Metropolitan Police department and reviewed the overnight report and we think there is something you all need to be aware of. Between last night and this morning there were six abnormal homicides reported in the greater Tokyo area. Out of the six, five were almost certainly arigami attacks."

Fujitaka rubbed his chin. "I see. Have they asked us to help?"

Nakuru shook her head. "No, neither the secretariat nor the public safety commissioner has asked us to step in."

"Alright, keep monitoring their investigation. If they run into the arigami they're going to need our help."

"Yes sir."

"And, Tomoyo, I want you to get the chief of police on the phone and explain to him the possibility of these attacks being arigami-related. It's important that they know what they might be dealing with and that they will need reinforcements if it is the arigami."

Tomoyo picked up the phone on her desk and started dialing. "I'm on it."

Fujitaka turned his gaze to Kaho. "What about you, Kaho? Any updates on the arigami corpse in the lab?"

"I'm afraid not sir, nothing that will help our combat squad with exterminating them, anyway. Although Yukito and I will continue with our examination until we have looked at it thoroughly."

"Well, if there's anything to find, you two will find it. If no one else has any information to share than that concludes this meeting."

Sakura rose from her seat relieved the meeting hadn't lasted long. It was already five o'clock and she had plans.

"Glad that didn't take long," Sakura said as she made her way to the door, "I've got a date to get ready for."

"You mean _we've_ got a date to get ready for," Syaoran jeered. He wasn't thrilled he had to spend his evening on Sakura's date so he figured the least he could do was rub it in since she wasn't happy about it either.

Sakura scowled at the amber eyed boy. "Don't remind me."

**xXxXxXx**

"I'm really sorry about this," Sakura apologized as Daisuke climbed into the back seat.

"Don't worry about it, I understand."

It was a six o'clock and Sakura and Syaoran were picking Daisuke up for the date. Earlier that day at school, Sakura had explained to Daisuke that she couldn't go on the date with him unless another member of the T.A.C. was with her. She didn't tell him why exactly as she was informed to keep her status as the kushinada to the down low as much as possible. She simply said that they all had to travel in pairs. Daisuke was surprisingly mellow about the situation much to Sakura's relief. So instead of him picking her up, she and Syaoran picked him up. Sakura chose to sit in the back seat with her date leaving Syaoran up front to drive.

"It's like we have our own chuffer," Daisuke joked.

Sakura laughed lightheartedly while Syaoran glared at the boy in the rearview mirror. He'd just gotten in the car and he was already getting on Syaoran's nerves.

"Just tell me where I'm driving," he ground out through clenched teeth.

Daisuke gave him directions to the restaurant and they were off. The place was perfect for a first date in Sakura's opinion. It wasn't overly expensive or romantic but it wasn't a fast food or family joint either. It seemed to be filled mostly with people in their age bracket which made for a comfortable environment. The trio was sitting at a small round table eating what they had ordered. Daisuke and Sakura were talking animatedly while Syaoran chortled here and there at some of the things Daisuke was saying. Daisuke didn't seem bothered by Syaoran's snickers, or he hid it really well. Sakura however was very irritated with her bodyguard.

_I knew I should have made him sit at his own table!_ Sakura thought vehemently.

"And so that's how I ended up as our class president," Daisuke concluded the story he had been telling.

"Cool," Sakura said as she finished off the milkshake she'd ordered for dessert.

The waitress came by with the bill once she was assured that they didn't want to order anything more. Daisuke took it and counted out some yen.

"I've got my meal and Sakura's, but I'm afraid you're meals on you," he said to Syaoran with a crooked smile.

"I didn't expect anything more of you," Syaoran replied rudely, much to Sakura's chagrin.

Daisuke didn't respond as he put the money on the table and rose from his seat. "I have to use the restroom, but when I get back I want to hear more about you," he said to Sakura.

"Sure," she smiled and watched him retreat to the back of the restaurant.

"Tch, we should take off while he's in the bathroom," Syaoran sneered.

Sakura turned to look at him. "Would you grow up? We are not leaving him here. You on the other hand . . ." She let her threat trail off with a pointed glare.

Syaoran scoffed but said nothing.

"What is your problem anyway?" Sakura pushed. "Do you have an issue with Daisuke?"

Syaoran shrugged. "No, the guy's just a tool that's all." He said with finality as he took out some money to pay for his half of the bill. He counted what Daisuke had left and mockingly said, "And he left the tax for me to pay, what a thoughtful guy."

"Whatever," Sakura huffed.

When Daisuke returned from the washroom, he took Sakura's arm and led her out of the restaurant, leaving Syaoran to trail behind. They went to a local park and occupied a bench in one of the gardens to continue getting to know each other. Bored, Syaoran choose to sit under a tree across the path from them. They hadn't been there long when a blood curdling scream pierced the calm night air. Daisuke and Sakura were startled off the bench by the sound.

"What was that?!" Daisuke yelled, his eyes darting around.

"Someone's in trouble! Come on, we have to try and help them!" Sakura cried breaking into a run as another scream resonated around the desolate park. Daisuke was a step behind her.

"Wait!" Syaoran ordered but she didn't stop. "Damn it!" he cursed as he raced to catch up.

A yard from the bench Sakura's mitama began the incessant glowing that it did from time to time. She didn't stop to think about it, too busy trying to reach the person that needed help. She rounded a group of trees and stopped abruptly at the sight that met her eyes. She stared in shock, her brain not ready to receive the picture her eyes were transmitting to it.

"Oh my God! What the hell?!" Daisuke cried.

On the ground, a few feet away, was the body of a female, or what was left of it. Three crows, each three times the size of a normal crow, were hunched over, ripping apart the bloody flesh with their razor sharp beaks. Immediately the three monsters looked up, their crimson eyes directed at Sakura, their feast instantly forgotten. She backed up a step, fear registering in her mind.

_**Kushinada! **_The one nearest to Sakura howled and leapt for her.

Sakura raised her hands in front of her and screamed. Daisuke jumped away in terror, hoping to be neglected by the monsters. Just as the enlarged bird reached Sakura, Syaoran slid in front of her, bringing his sword up and through the middle of the bird's body in one fluid motion. The two halves of the body dropped to the ground lifelessly and Syaoran brought the point of his sword down on the seed, cracking it before it could lunch itself away.

_**Get out of our way worthless human! The kushinada is rightfully ours! **_Another one growled and the remaining two arigami flew at Syaoran.

Syaoran dashed forward to meet them head on. His sword sliced through another one with ease, like a hot knife through butter. Sakura watched in awe, he made it look so easy and he didn't seem to be intimidated in the least. In fact, he almost looked excited. As he cracked the second monster's seed the third one dug its talons into Syaoran's back. The boy gritted his teeth as his blood began to seep through the white cloth of his T.A.C. jacket.

"I like this jacket you son of a bitch!" Syaoran exclaimed as the bird continued to keep its claws embedded in his flesh.

"Get off of him!" Sakura cried as she rushed forward and ripped the beast from Syaoran's back. She hurriedly threw it to the ground and Syaoran swung his sword around, decapitating it before it could get back up. Then, with a final stab, he cracked the blue mitama.

He surveyed the area for anymore arigami. Spotting none, he withdrew his sword back into its pendant form.

"Thanks," he breathed out as he hung his pendant around his neck and dropped it beneath his shirt.

"Don't mention it," Sakura smiled lopsidedly, her breathing slightly erratic from the sudden adrenaline rush. Her eyes widened as she remembered her date. "Daisuke!" she exclaimed as she hurried over to where he lay on the ground, huddled over in fear.

As she got closer to him he backed away. "Stay away from me!" he cried, shaken up. "Don't come any closer you-you monster magnet!"

Sakura looked at him with a confused look.

"They wanted you, right?!"

Seeing no point in lying, Sakura nodded her head silently.

"I'm so out of here," he said as he made his way for the street.

"I'm sorry about this, Daisuke," Sakura apologized as she walked towards him. "At least let us give you a ride home."

He held his hands up telling Sakura to keep her distance. "No, I'll take the subway home. It's bound to be safer."

He scurried out of the empty park without a backwards glance. Sakura watched his body disappear into the throng of people prowling the streets, living the night life. She vaguely heard Syaoran talking behind her. He was on his cell phone with Fujitaka.

"Yeah, she's okay . . . I destroyed all three of them, seeds included . . . The victim is dead unfortunately, we didn't get to her fast enough to save her . . . Right, I'll get her home immediately," Syaoran finished.

He hung up and turned to look at Sakura. She was still staring off at the crowded street. With a sigh he put his hand on her shoulder gently.

"Come on, let's go home," he said softly as he steered her in the direction of the parking garage that held their car.

"What about . . ." she trailed off not able to finish her sentence. Instead she glanced at the carnage that lay on the ground near them.

Syaoran followed her gaze. "Meilin and Toya are coming to take care of the arigami bodies and the police are on their way for the victim."

Sakura said nothing in response as he led her out of the park. A click sounded from some nearby bushes and a woman emerged from behind them, a state-of-the-art digital camera held languidly in her hands. Her short hair was a deep purple color and was spiked out with gel in the back. Her face was hidden by her bangs and the shadows of the night. She snapped one more picture of Sakura's retreating back before she made her own exit.

The car ride home was quiet. Sakura was lost in her own thoughts. She felt stupid for even entertaining the thought of dating. How could she be so naïve? She had no business dating in the position she was in. Anyone that hung around her would automatically be put in danger with the arigami so eager to get to her. She really couldn't blame Daisuke for wanting to get as far away from her as possible. And what if someone really did fall in love with her and she had to be sacrificed anyway?

_That would be just awful . . ._ she thought to herself with a disheartened sigh.

Syaoran glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He wasn't a very emotional guy but even he thought what transpired between Sakura and Daisuke was kind of harsh . . .

"I'm sorry about how your date turned out." It slipped out before Syaoran could stop it.

Sakura turned her sad eyes on him and smiled weakly, a little surprised by his statement and the sincerity it held. It was probably the nicest thing he'd said to her since they'd met.

"Thanks."

The rest of the ride home was spent in silence.

**To be continued . . . **

**Next time:** _Chapter 6: The Man with Seven Mitamas_. Sakura learns about a place referred to as "the pit." Then it's Syaoran's first soccer game as well as Meilin's and Sakura's first game to cheer for. However, things take a turn for the worse when a man with seven mitamas comes for Sakura. Plus, more is uncovered about the power the mitamas hold.

**A/N: **The arigami in this chapter weren't super exciting but the battle in the next chapter should make up for that :) Anyway PLEASE review! I really, really, really appreciate those of you who have so far but the ratio of readers to reviews is painstakingly off. Don't be so lazy!! See you next Wednesday!

_**SakuraJade**_


	6. The Man with Seven Mitamas

**A/N: **I hope you're all ready for a rather intense chapter :)

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

**Defying Destiny**

_Chapter 6: The Man with Seven Mitamas_

Sakura stared out the car window as Syaoran pulled up to their destination. They were on the outskirts of Tokyo, in a clearing surrounded by several trees. In the middle of the clearing was the iron frame skeleton of a half constructed building surrounded by a metal link fence. Syaoran parked the car and the pair headed for the half completed building. Sakura zipped her T.A.C. jacket up a little higher to shield herself from the wind's onslaught.

"Where are we?" Sakura finally asked.

"We call this place 'the pit.' It was the development site for a new apartment complex, but a month ago construction came to an abrupt stop when the place was over run with the arigami. We think that the construction crew accidentally uncovered a base or something of the arigami. Since then we've quarantined the place and have been examining it for arigami artifacts," he explained.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "A base?"

"Well yeah, the arigami don't just appear out of thin air now do they? They have to be hanging out some where when they aren't terrorizing the city or trying to kidnap you."

"That's true I guess."

When they reached the inside of the building Syaoran started down a set of makeshift stairs. Sakura followed behind him carefully. When they reached the bottom she saw two other members of the T.A.C. in the underground tunnel. Nakuru was walking around scanning things with a handheld device. Toya was close behind her, bogged down with some electrical equipment and two metal suitcases.

"Isn't it great that we get to spend so much time together on this assignment?" Nakuru squealed.

"Yeah right. Out on the streets I'm known as 'The Hurricane' but down here I'm just a freakin' pack mule," he grumbled.

She giggled at her teammate. "Oh, To-ya, you can be my hurricane any day!"

"No thanks," he deadpanned.

Nakuru noticed Sakura and waved her over. "Hey, Sakura, over here!"

Sakura walked over with Syaoran in tow. She smiled at Nakuru.

"So what brings you down here?"

"Mr. Nakamura ordered me to bring her by so she could see the place since she's part of the team now," Syaoran answered.

"What are you working on?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, I'm scanning the area for recent arigami activity. They have to be coming from some where and we think this might be one of the places."

Sakura blinked as she stared at the handheld device. "You mean that thing can detect an arigami's presence?"

"Well, to an extent. Every living creature gives off a type of pulse if you will. The arigami are no exception. Eriol and I created this device to pick up the specific pulse the arigami emit. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work right. We still have to work a few bugs out of it," Nakuru admitted with a frown.

She continued on, scanning the walls of the wide underground passage as Syaoran's cell phone began to ring. He walked a few steps away and answered it. The phone call was quick and when he was done he turned back to Sakura.

"Dr. Mizuki wants us to meet her at headquarters in a half hour. She wants to begin running some tests on the mitama that is connected to your chest."

"Okay." Sakura waved at Toya and Nakuru. "We'll see you guys later."

"Bye, Sakura! Thanks for coming to see us!" Nakuru gushed.

Toya gave a simple nod of his head in their direction, his hands too full to wave, as they headed back out.

**xXxXxXx**

Sakura was sitting on a doctor's office bench in a room adjacent to the lab while Yukito took a sample of her blood. She sighed as she watched her blood fill the tube connected to the needle. She didn't want to complain but Dr. Mizuki and Yukito had been poking and prodding her for hours. There were three suction cups stuck across the top of her chest with wires running to a machine. The machine was giving off data that she didn't even attempt to read.

"I'm sorry we've been doing so many tests," Yukito said seemingly reading her mind, "but this is the closest we've been able to get to a mitama and it's important that we know as much as we can."

"I understand."

Syaoran was parked in a seat near the door watching silently for lack of something better to do. Yukito removed the needle from Sakura's skin carefully before applying a cotton ball to the tiny hole it left behind.

"I hope that wasn't too painful," Yukito asked with genuine care.

Sakura blushed slightly at the close proximity of his face to hers. "No, not at all. You did great. I didn't feel a thing."

"What about the mitama on your chest? Have you felt any abnormalities since it attached itself to you?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not really. I mean, I haven't felt abnormal exactly, but sometimes the seed acts up."

Yukito's eyebrows rose at her statement. "Really? How so?"

"Well sometimes it starts glowing. I'm not sure why it does it, but I feel this . . . energy I guess, when it does. I'm sorry; I'm not really sure how to explain it . . ."

"That's okay. Just tell me about it as best as you can."

Sakura took a deep breath to collect her thoughts. "When it starts to glow I feel this pressure, like my mitama is reacting to something else. I feel drawn to that energy. It almost feels foreboding."

Yukito was quickly jotting down Sakura's statements on a pad of paper. "That's very interesting, Sakura."

Syaoran glanced at his watch before rising from his seat.

"You're gonna have to take a break from testing today, Sakura and I have a soccer game to get ready for."

"Oh that's right! Syaoran's first game is tonight and Meilin and I will be cheering for it. Will you be able to come?" Sakura asked enthusiastically.

"I'd love to come and watch. I enjoy soccer. I played for a while when I was in high school myself. But I'm afraid I can't," Yukito said apologetically. "I have to spend my evening here helping Dr. Mizuki look over the results of all the tests we ran."

"Oh . . ." Sakura replied downheartedly.

"But, I promise to try and make it to the next one," he said, trying to make up for it.

Sakura smiled slightly. "Okay then."

**xXxXxXx**

In the end, Tomoyo and Eriol were the only ones able to make it to the game. Tomoyo seemed to cheer more for Sakura and Meilin than for the soccer team. And of course, she had her trusty video camera in hand to record it all. Meilin objected immediately, saying she didn't want her bout as a cheerleader forever captured on film. But of course, separating Tomoyo from her camcorder was an impossible task and so in the end Meilin gave up. The game had been going well up until that point, the Seijou High Panthers were running circles around the Nanahara Prep Eagles, and a lot of that could be attributed to Syaoran. Swift and agile, he was an amazing player and Sakura had been genuinely cheering her heart out for him. Even Meilin was getting into it and showing some real school spirit for a change. Many of the cheers they were doing focused mostly on Sakura and Meilin since they were the most gymnastically skilled of all the girls on the squad.

"Alright girls, let's do the double pyramids! Sakura, you get on top of one, Meilin get on the other. Let's go!" Their squad captain ordered.

The two pyramids went up side-by-side flawlessly. In the middle of doing the cheer that accompanied the set up, Sakura's mitama began to glow. She gasped in shock at the familiar feeling that washed over her, the current cheer she was in the process of executing completely forgotten.

_There it goes again! Every time this thing glows I get the same feeling . . . like it's reacting to something . . . like it's not alone . . . _

And then it hit her like a semi-truck. She'd finally figured out the mystery behind the glowing.

She had to get out of there.

"Let me down!" she screamed at the other girls as they rattled off the cheer they'd recently mastered. "I said put me down now, I have to get down!!"

The girls holding her up glanced at her in confusion but carried on with their cheer, deciding to ignore her rather than ruin the perfectly good cheer they were reciting.

"Didn't you hear me?! Put me down!" Sakura demanded, struggling to get the girls holding onto her feet to release her.

Meilin noticed her actions from the top of her pyramid and stared, not sure what to make of her fellow team member's actions. She was ruining the cheer that much was certain, not that Meilin cared about such things. By now, half the spectators in the stands were watching Sakura over the soccer game. Even some of the boys from both teams were paying more attention to what was going on off the field.

Suddenly, the pyramid of girls swayed under Sakura's flailing and they relinquished their hold on her in order to save themselves from going down. Sakura's body toppled off the stack of teenage girls and hit the ground forcefully. She laid there for a second, the wind completely knocked out of her. Then she was up and dashing out one of the stadium's exits. If she was right about the meaning of her seed glowing than she had to get as far away from all the innocent people enjoying the soccer game as she could.

"Sakura, where the hell are you going?! What's wrong?!" Meilin yelled after her.

Sakura chanced a glance over her shoulder at Meilin, but did not stop running. "The arigami are coming, I have to get out of here! All these people could get hurt!"

She wasn't trying to escape the arigami; she was trying to lead them away from the stands over flowing with innocent spectators.

_What the hell? _Meilin thought, completely perplexed by the kushinada's bizarre behavior. _What does she mean the arigami are coming? How could she know??_

"Damn it!" Meilin swore as she wrenched her feet free and did a back flip off the top of her pyramid. She landed gracefully on the ground, much to the awe of everyone that watched, and took off after Sakura.

Tomoyo and Eriol watched the whole event transpire from the stands.

"I think we'd better go after them," Tomoyo said as she began to make her way for the stairs.

Eriol was right behind her. "I agree. There might be trouble."

Syaoran had seen everything out of the corner of his perceptive eyes while he dribbled the ball towards the other teams' goal. He cursed under his breath as he nailed the soccer ball as hard as he could then ran off the field. He vaguely heard cheering erupt in the background over his pounding feet but he didn't bother looking back to see if it was because he scored or because the goalie stopped the ball. He had more important things to worry about. As he neared the eastern half of the deserted school grounds he heard gun shots and picked up the pace. He rounded the corner and was knocked to the ground instantly by Meilin landing on him.

"Thanks for breaking my fall, Syaoran," she groaned as she rolled off of him.

He looked ahead and saw a man standing a few paces away. He was tall and his presence radiated malice. He wore white pants and a form fitting white robe with blue and yellow trim. His eyes were the color of hard steel. The way the irises were formed, they almost looked animalistic. His skin was inhumanly pale and he wore no shoes.

Eriol stood in front of Sakura protectively with a CZ SP-01 Phantom – a type of pistol – pointed at the man. Tomoyo was hiding in a bush recording the ordeal.

"Who are you?!" Sakura demanded.

"Who I am is irrelevant. However if you insist on having a name by which to call me then I shall indulge your request. I'm simply known as Yue," he replied in a smooth, deep voice.

He took a step closer and Eriol cocked his pistol.

"Please stand down," the azure-eyed boy asked calmly. "I'd rather not shoot; I'm not one for violence. Of course, if you try to attack Sakura or me like you did Meilin then I won't hesitate to pull the trigger."

The man scoffed. "Pull the trigger if you dare, it won't make a difference. I could kill you before the bullet left the chamber."

"Your human . . . but, you're an arigami too aren't you?" Sakura asked with questioning eyes.

He stared at Sakura, his eyes showing a hint of surprise at her claim. He noticed the pulsing glow coming from her chest for the first time.

"You have a soul embedded in your flesh." It was a statement, not a question.

Sakura nodded. "Just like you." Her eyes narrowed in concentration. "No, not like you, you have more than one . . ."

A smirk spread across the man's face, revealing sharp canines so white they rivaled his pale skin. "Oh I have quite a few more than just one, Kushinada."

He raised a clenched fist revealing one of the mitamas contained in his skin. It began to glow. The skin on the side of his forearm tore open with a sickening rip and a curved blade protruded from the wound to everyone's surprise. Its silvery color and curved shape gave it the resemblance of a fish fin. Within seconds the same thing happened on his other hand. The nails on his fingers and toes grew out like claws on a tiger to accompany the blades. The bottoms of his pants had moved back slightly to reveal two more seeds, one on each foot. Three separate spots glowed on his collar bone beneath the white material of his robes.

"I have seven mitamas, all of which I plan to use to kill you!" he cried out and charged.

Eriol squeezed the trigger, but the man knocked the gun from his hand before he could get a bullet off and slashed Eriol's forearm severely all in one fluid motion. His body flew several feet away before it hit the ground and rolled a few more feet. He finally skidded to a stop near the bush Tomoyo was hiding in. He cried out in pain, the fresh wound in his arm pumping his blood out and down the sleeve of his shirt. Tomoyo dragged him behind the bush she was hiding in and started trying to stem the flow of blood seeping out of his forearm. With Eriol out of the way, the man reached for Sakura. She shied away from his outstretched hand.

"You'll be coming with me," he said, his voice completely calm as if he hadn't just injured someone.

Before he could grab a hold of Sakura, Syaoran slid in between them and took a swipe at Yue's arm with his sword. He caught nothing but air, the man had already moved out of range.

"Good job, you managed to take down our computer nerd," Syaoran jeered, eyeing the man with contempt.

"I heard that," Eriol's voice vaguely drifted over to them from behind a set of bushes.

Ignoring him, Syaoran continued. "Now let's see how you fair against someone built to fight!"

He sprang forward with a flurry of slashes and thrusts. Each time the mysterious monster was just out of reach. At one point, Yue stepped to the side and Syaoran whirled around, nicking his shoulder with the tip of his blade. Before Syaoran could strike again, Yue grabbed a hold of his wrist, forcefully stopping him in his tracks.

Syaoran spied the injury he inflicted. It was little more than a scratch but it was there. The small crimson stain proved it.

"So you do bleed," Syaoran taunted.

Yue eyed Syaoran's sword intently.

"You did manage to hit me, but I'm going to chalk it up to this sword rather than your actually abilities," he replied, squeezing Syaoran's wrist tighter.

Syaoran relinquished his hold on the sword as the pain in his wrist increased significantly. It dropped to the grass with a dull thud. Yue kicked it away disrespectfully.

"How do you figure?" Syaoran asked through gritted teeth. The pain in his wrist was excruciating and he was sure if Yue applied anymore pressure his bones were going to snap like twigs. Still, he didn't want to give the foul creature in front of him the pleasure of knowing just how much it hurt.

"It's the kusinagi-no-tsurugi, it's drawn to us so naturally your strikes will be more accurate," Yue answered without much thought. "It doesn't matter though, you failed to stop us the first time and you will fail this time," he sneered, enjoying both the physical and emotional pain that flittered across Syaoran's face.

_Failed the first time? What is he talking about? _Sakura couldn't help but wonder.

We're through here," Yue said and threw Syaoran against a nearby tree.

Sakura forgot about what Yue had said and cried out as she watched Syaoran's head slam against the rough bark of the tree before he collapsed to the ground, the impact leaving his mind in a haze. With no one left in his way, the silvery haired man set his sights on Sakura once more. She turned to run, but her head snapped back suddenly as a searing pain erupted all over her scalp and she jerked to a stop. Yue had caught her long silky ponytail when it flared out. His bone-colored fingers were tightly wrapped around it, however, he did not move otherwise.

"What is this?! Release me!" she heard him growl a foot behind her.

Unsure of what was happening, Sakura turned her head to the right as far as she could. Her eyes landed on Meilin. She stood impeccably still, her hands raised in front of her as if in prayer with her two index fingers touching and pointing up, and her two thumbs touching and pointing at her. Her eyes were locked on Yue; a look of intense concentration was etched onto her delicate face.

Yue's eyes darkened as realization dawned on him. "A Shinto priestess, huh? Try as you like, your measly spirit ward won't hold me forever."

He tightened his grip on Sakura's hair to prove his point. A bead of sweat rolled down Meilin's flawless cheek, but the white slip of paper with cursive kanji scrawled across it remained in place on Yue's back.

"Syaoran!" Meilin shouted, her voice wavering slightly, eyes never leaving Yue. "Syaoran, get up, you have to help Sakura! I can't hold him much longer!"

Syaoran tried to get up but his head was still reeling from the collision with the tree and he fell to his hands and knees again after only two steps. He watched through unfocused eyes as Sakura struggled to free her auburn locks but to no avail. Yue's grip was solid.

"You don't have just any soul; you have the eighth soul of Orochi. I can feel it. After I've massacred your body within a ceramic field I'll rip that soul from your chest and have all eight of Orochi's souls!" he snarled vehemently.

"But how?! How can you be one of the arigami?!" Sakura asked, desperate for some answers despite the dire situation she was in. "Humans are too intelligent for the arigami to control!"

He laughed, though it was devoid of any real humor. "The arigami don't control me, I choose to side with them. And I use mitamas to help give me the power to be of use to them."

"But why?!"

"Because they are the ones who should dominate this planet!"

"Syaoran!" Meilin cried. She could feel the seal beginning to tear.

In her struggling, Sakura saw something shine near her feet. It was Syaoran's sword, light from the nearby soccer field lights reflecting off the blade. She stretched her leg out as far as she could, the toes of her shoe scrapping against the grass in an effort to pull the sword to her. Within seconds it was at her feet. She dug her right foot under the middle of it and kicked up. The hilt of the sword rose from the ground and she wrapped her slender fingers around it. Without a moment's hesitation, Sakura turned her head as far as she could and swiped the sword upward behind her, effectively severing her ponytail from her head. Her hair, now too short for the high ponytail it had been in, slipped from the ribbon that held it up and fanned out around her face, stopping half way to her shoulders in choppy pieces. The dilapidated ponytail fell limply over Yue's knuckles, no longer binding Sakura to his grasp.

Just as Meilin's spirit ward broke, Sakura twirled around and rammed Syaoran's sword at Yue, trusting it to do as Yue claimed it did. The blade pierced his stomach as several gunshots rang out simultaneously. Yue sank to one knee from the joint attack. Sakura glanced over his shoulder. Tomoyo was standing near the bush she had been behind earlier, Eriol's pistol raised in her hands. The tip was still smoking. She'd emptied the chamber into Yue's back. Despite the multiple wounds he'd just received, Yue rose to his feet once more. Sakura let go of Syaoran's sword and stepped away, unsure of what to expect. Yue yanked the kusinagi-no-tsurugi out of his innards and flung it aside like scrap.

"Congratulations Princess Kushinada, you've managed to extend your life tonight, but not for long. I will be back for you, make no mistake about that!"

And in a blur of motion he was gone.

"Nice shooting, Tomoyo," Meilin praised as she ran a hand across her perspiring forehead. She was exhausted from the concentration it took to freeze Yue as long as she had.

"Thanks," Tomoyo responded with a sheepish grin.

A cheer erupted from the soccer field and they could hear the announcer claiming victory for Seijou High.

"I guess that's two victories," Meilin said.

The sounds of incoming sirens began to mingle with the boisterous sounds of the soccer crowd.

"And that would be the others," Tomoyo announced. "I sent out an emergency signal via cell phone while I was tending to Eriol."

Sakura picked up Syaoran's sword and walked over to him. She held it out to him and he shrunk it back into its pendant form. Sakura helped him to his feet, but he waved off her attempt to help him walk, his head no longer spinning. Syaoran stared at her inconspicuously as they walked towards the others. He'd never seen someone look as amazing as Sakura did the moment she sliced through her hair and stabbed Yue. The image was burned into his mind. At that moment she looked so strong-willed, so fiercely determined to stop Yue. Syaoran couldn't help but find that image of Sakura, coupled with her pretty face and figure, highly attractive.

He blushed at the track his thoughts had suddenly ventured down. It was a dangerous one indeed . . .

**To be continued . . . **

**Next time:** _Chapter 7: Once Bitten, Twice Shy. _Sakura gets a new haircut that even Syaoran can't deny is cute and the Fall Formal is coming up at Seijou high but Sakura has no interest in going. Plus Yukito hypothesizes over Syaoran's mysterious sword and how he came to acquire it.

**A/N: **And that's it for chapter 6. This was one of my favorite chapters, although I apologize to all the Yue fans who are disappointed that he is a bad guy. He just fit the part so well, and I've never been a big fan of Yue so . . . Anyway I'm sorry if you are disappointed with his role, but I hope you still enjoy the story :) As a writer I consider fight scenes to be one of my weaker points so I hope this came out well. Let me know what you think! I'd greatly appreciate the feed back. Thanks :)

_**SakuraJade**_


	7. Once Bitten, Twice Shy

**A/N: **Here's the next installment. It's not nearly as exciting as the last chapter but I hope you all enjoy it anyway.

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

**Defying Destiny**

_Chapter 7: Once Bitten, Twice Shy_

Syaoran leaned back in a chair and closed his eyes impatiently. It was a beautiful autumn day outside and he was pissing it away inside the waiting room of a prestigious salon in downtown Tokyo.

_I could be outside practicing. God knows I need it, _he thought bitterly, his mind drifting back to the fight with Yue yesterday.

He'd hardly been able to land a blow on Yue before the arigami man tossed him aside effortlessly.

_If Sakura hadn't thought to chop her hair off and if Tomoyo hadn't grabbed Eriol's gun . . . _he let his unfinished thought hang in his mind. Yesterday's battle was a close one, much too close for Syaoran's taste.

If he couldn't protect Sakura from someone like Yue, than he wasn't good enough to be her guardian. He needed to practice twice as hard so when Yue showed up again the outcome of the fight would be drastically different. But he couldn't go practice until Sakura was finished getting her hair cut.

Syaoran slouched down further in his chair, bored. How long did it take to cut a little hair? She'd already been back there for thirty minutes. Tomoyo had insisted Sakura come to this salon and use her personal hairdresser. Sakura declined when she realized how upscale the place was, but finally agreed to it once Tomoyo mentioned that the bill would be on the T.A.C. of course since her needing a haircut was related to a fight with the arigami.

"For the money and the time it's taking, she better look amazing when she comes out," Syaoran grumbled to himself.

Sakura finally emerged ten minutes later and he was not disappointed. He stared at her, mouth agape, as she walked over to him.

Sakura stopped next to him, her once lushes long locks now curled under her chin in short, thick, choppy layers. One strand on each side of her face was slightly longer than the rest of her hair. Those two pieces stopped just at her shoulders before curling inward towards her neck. It was no secret that girls in their age bracket preferred long hair. It made them feel cute and girly. Long hair was considered feminine. Even all the girls working for the T.A.C. had long hair, all except for Sakura now. Like the rest, Sakura had looked feminine and girly with her long hair. But her short hair was cute and, dare Syaoran think it, sexy . . .

His cheeks reddened at the thought, but there was no denying it, he definitely preferred her short hair style. It framed her face perfectly and fit her spunky attitude the way it bobbed around when she walked. It also matched well with her sporty physique.

"What?" she finally asked, her right hand coming up to touch her now short, auburn strands of silk self-consciously as he continued to stare at her.

Syaoran shook his head to clear it. "Nothing." He headed for the exit. "Come on, we have to get to headquarters."

Sakura followed him out the door wordlessly, unsure what to think of his staring. Had he been staring because her new hairdo was ugly or cute?

**xXxXxXx**

"So you're saying you can sense other arigami with the mitama in your chest?" Yukito asked as he attached some tiny blue wires to the pink stone on Sakura's chest.

"Yes. Every time I've been near one this thing starts to glow and I can feel a presence. It's almost like I can even tell how they are going to move sometimes, it's weird. "

"That's amazing!" Yukito replied earnestly.

Sakura blushed slightly at his praise. "You think so?"

He nodded his head. "You can detect their presence better than the equipment Nakuru and Eriol have developed from the sound of it. This is a big deal. With your ability, we might actually have the chance to be offensive rather than always being defensive."

"Yeah, I guess it would be nice to be able to go after them rather than having to wait until they show up."

"Exactly. Nakuru and Toya have been down in the pit a lot the last few days trying to detect the arigami so we can stage an attack but so far they haven't had much success. Maybe we can use your ability to further the search."

Yukito finished setting up the equipment and sat back. "There, it's hooked up. Just lay as still as possible while the computer examines the energy in your seed."

"Alright," Sakura said and laid back on the hospital bench.

"A man with seven mitama's, that's pretty incredible," Yukito said, thinking back to the story Sakura and the others recounted last night when they arrived at the scene.

"If by incredible you mean scary as hell then I agree with you," Sakura quipped.

"Yes, it is scary that he's so powerful simply because he has a handful of arigami souls attached to his body. But scientifically speaking, it's also very intriguing. Who would have thought that combining souls on one host could warrant that kind of strength and speed?"

"Let's not forget he seems bent on killing Sakura for the arigami and taking the seed she possesses since it's the Orochi's eighth soul and will complete his set," Syaoran added from his chair off to the side.

Yukito placed a thoughtful hand to his chin. "Yes, I wonder what power possessing an eighth mitama would give him."

Sakura shuddered at the thought. "I'd rather not think about it."

Yukito turned to Syaoran. "Now, about your encounter last night, you're sure this Yue person referred to your sword as the kusinagi-no-tsurugi?"

"Yes."

Yukito ran a hand through his prematurely grey hair. "Well, that would explain why your sword is so effective in destroying the arigami and its magical abilities. However, that leaves one to question how you got it in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked.

"Well, the kusinagi-no-tsurugi is one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan. There is a sacred mirror, jewel, and sword. The kusinagi-no-tsurugi is the sword and only the royal family is supposed to know the location of the regalia. In fact, since no one is allowed to see them but the royal family, there is much skepticism as to their existence in the first place. Of course, the sword is clearly real since it is in your possession, but how did it come to be in your hands?"

"Well I didn't steal it if that's what you're implying," Syaoran snapped defensively.

Yukito put up a hand. "No, no, of course not. I just want to know who gave it to you."

"My father. He told me that it's been passed down through his side of the family since the beginning of time, whatever that means. He told me it was special and to only part with it when I pass it on to my own children."

"I see. Well, then, the only explanation I can come up with is that you descended from Ninigi, the offspring of Suzanno-O's sister, Amaterasu, the sun goddess. He's the one she gave the sword to after Suzanno-O presented it to her as a reconciliation gift. That must mean the one the royal family guards has always been a fake."

Sakura sat up and looked at Syaoran. "But 'Li' is a Chinese last name, so how could you have gotten an item of Japanese legend?"

"My father's mother was Japanese. It must have come from her half of the family," he replied.

"Oh." Sakura returned to her previous position on the bench.

"That's an interesting twist," Yukito admitted. "Who would have thought a member of the elite team compiled to fight the arigami would actually be a descendant of the goddess who possessed the sword specially designed to fight them."

"Yeah that's pretty lucky," Sakura said.

Syaoran scoffed. "Tch, there's no such thing as luck, everything happens for a reason. It was my destiny from the beginning to fight the arigami. It was fate, that's all."

"Maybe," Sakura said as she moved her arms behind her head.

"What do you mean 'maybe'?" he asked.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know . . . I don't exactly believe in fate or destiny. I suppose I believe that some things are fated to happen, but for the most part I think we make our own destiny."

"That's interesting coming from the person whose destiny is to be sacrificed," Syaoran shot back.

The room went silent. Suddenly Yukito spoke.

"I really like your new haircut, Sakura, it suites you very well," he said in an attempt to squelch out the uncomfortable atmosphere that had filled the room.

A blush bloomed on Sakura's delicate cheeks at his statement. "Really?"

"Sure," he said with a smile. "You look very cute."

His words only deepened the red hue gracing Sakura's face. Syaoran's eye's narrowed. A feeling he wasn't use to, and thus couldn't place, bubbled up inside of him slightly at the scene. He didn't care for the feeling one bit. After a few more tests Yukito disconnected the monitor from Sakura's seed and she was free to go. Syaoran led her out of the room and to the car so they could head home. They were half way home and Sakura still hadn't said a word. Desperate to break the uncomfortable silence that threatened to swallow him Syaoran finally spoke.

"He's right you know."

Sakura looked at him but refrained from speaking.

Syaoran kept his eye on the road. "Yukito said your haircut was cute. He's right; it really does look cute on you."

Sakura couldn't stop the smile that spread across her rosy pink lips. If someone as unfeeling as Syaoran said her hair was cute than it must be.

"Thank you," she said softly, beaming at him the way only she could. She knew how much it must have taken him to hand her a complement like that.

Syaoran could feel his cheeks heating up significantly under the weight of Sakura's dazzling smile much to his dismay. He cracked the driver side window slightly in an attempt to cool his flushed face.

**xXxXxXx**

The next day at school, Sakura found a flyer taped to her locker like all the rest. She pulled it off and looked it over. It was advertising the Fall Formal, a semi-formal dance that was coming up in a month. Sakura crumpled up the orange sheet of paper and threw it in the nearest trash can uninterested. Going to the dance meant going on a fancy date and she'd sworn off dating after the incident with Daisuke. Thanks to some intense persuasion (and I use the term "persuasion" lightly) by the T.A.C., Daisuke kept his mouth shut about what transpired during his date with Sakura, although he did avoid her like the plague. Even though none of the other guys at Seijou high knew that Sakura was a "monster magnet" as Daisuke had called her, she herself had no desire to put another innocent guy in the position Daisuke had been in days earlier because of whom she was. Despite her disinterest in the dance, the rest of the student body was excited.

At lunch it was all Tomoyo would talk about.

"I can't wait for the formal, I already have the perfect dress!" she squealed.

"Now you just have to find a date," Meilin teased.

"True . . . Too bad most of the male population here is terribly immature," Tomoyo pouted.

Eriol turned to her with his serene smile. "If no one you want to go with asks you, Tomoyo, I'd be honored to be your escort for the evening."

Tomoyo smiled, grateful for his offer. "Thank you, Eriol. I'd love to go with you."

And that was true. Despite the fact that she didn't know Eriol that well, Tomoyo found that no one made her more comfortable than him.

"Now we just have to get Meilin and Sakura dates! I can make your dresses!" Tomoyo exclaimed, stars starting to form in her eyes.

"Oh I'll get a date, don't you worry about that, "Meilin said, taking it as a personal challenge. "It'll be a piece of cake for an irresistible cutie like me," she boasted.

"Alright then, who would you like to go with, Sakura? Got any cute boys in mind?" Tomoyo asked in a light tone. "I noticed a cutie with spiky black hair stealing glances of you during third period. I could try and hook you up."

Sakura put up her hands. "No thanks, I'm not interested in going."

Tomoyo's eyes widen and her mouth dropped. Meilin had a similar expression on her face. Even Syaoran raised his eyebrows in surprise. Eriol kept the same simple grin on his face that he always wore.

"What?! What do you mean you're not interested in going?!"

"Just as I said, Tomoyo, I don't want to go."

"But what if someone asks you?"

Sakura shrugged with an air of indifference. "Then I'll turn him down plain and simple."

Tomoyo opened her mouth to speak again but Sakura cut her off. "Just drop it, okay?"

Tomoyo obeyed and returned to eating her lunch. She had a feeling it had to do with the Daisuke incident; after all, the saying went: once bitten, twice shy. But she wisely chose to keep the comment to herself.

**xXxXxXx**

Syaoran watched from the soccer field as Sakura politely turned another guy down. She'd been asked by several guys throughout the last two weeks and she'd politely said 'no' to all of them. Meilin had secured a date as she claimed she would, but despite her and Tomoyo's pleading, Sakura would not relent. She simply refused to go.

After practice, Syaoran was waiting for Sakura and Meilin to emerge from the girls' locker room. Sakura made it out first.

"So I saw you turn down another guy," Syaoran commented.

Sakura bristled. "They'll get it eventually. What about you? Aren't you going to ask anybody?" she asked, suddenly curious. "You still have two weeks."

"Nah."

"If it's about me don't worry about it," Sakura said, thinking about his duty to watch over her constantly. "I don't want you to miss your senior Fall Formal because you are charged with guarding me. I'm sure one of the other members could watch me for one night. You should go with someone you like and have a good time."

Syaoran was genuinely touched by her concern for his social life, but there was more than one reason he was given the job of guarding her. Aside from being highly qualified to protect Sakura, he was rather antisocial so having to watch over her 24/7 never really cut into his plans since he never made any.

"It's not that," Syaoran assured her. "I'm not really into that kind of thing. Plus there's no one I really want to go with anyway."

His answer didn't really surprise Sakura. Meilin finally emerged and the topic was dropped as they piled into the car and drove for the T.A.C.

**xXxXxXx**

They were sitting in the main office, waiting for the evening meeting to start when Nakuru skipped into the room smiling brightly.

"So guess who I just got off the phone with?"

"Who?" Meilin asked only slightly interested.

"The principal of Seijou High!"

Meilin blinked in surprise, she definitely wasn't expecting that. "Uh, why were you on the phone with our principal?"

"Because he needs chaperons for the Fall Formal so I volunteered to be one!" Nakuru said in a sing-song tone.

Toya snorted. "Have fun with that. High school dances are so lame."

Nakuru smiled slyly. "Oh we will."

Toya raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'we'?"

"I signed you up as well!"

Toya rocketed out of his seat. "You what?!"

"Well I needed a date silly, and who better to pick than my favorite guy?" Nakuru exclaimed as if the answer should be obvious.

"I am not going to some stupid high school dance, Akizuki," Toya growled.

Nakuru wagged her finger at him. "Oh yes you are, you're obligated to go, you're name's already on the list of chaperons." Toya seethed silently as she continued. "Besides, this way there will be extra protection at the dance in case Sakura is attacked like at the soccer game."

Toya grumbled to himself but said nothing coherent. He couldn't argue with that unfortunately.

"Uh, actually, I'm not going," Sakura piped up.

Nakuru spun around to look at the kushinada. "But why?!" she whined, much the same way Tomoyo had. "Surely there are plenty of guys willing to go with someone so cute!"

"It's not that, I just don't want to go, that's all."

"Well then that means I don't have to go either," Toya said triumphantly.

Nakuru turned to him, her eyes blazing dangerously. "Oh you're going, make no mistake about that. Besides, Sakura may change her mind."

"I highly doubt I will, Nakuru," Sakura admitted.

"Better safe than sorry," she turned her fiery eyes back to Toya, "right, Toya?"

Her eyes dared him to defy her and he quietly nodded his head. Nakuru had a very sweet disposition, but she could be damn right scary when she wanted to be.

**To be continued . . . **

**Next time****:** _Chapter 8: A Chase Down Yamato Highway. _The T.A.C. finally manages to get their hands on a live arigami specimen and Kaho and Yukito begin running tests in the hopes of learning more about Japan's biggest nemesis. But things are never quite that easy and the team realizes that when the arigami comes looking for its missing piece . . .

**A/N: **So Sakura now has her short haircut that we are all used to (well, it's a little longer than it was in CCS but not by much). I kind of picture her and Syaoran the way they look in Tsubasa as they are older in that manga/anime than they were in CCS. I hope you enjoyed the little bit of ExT to fans of that pairing. Look forward to more glimpses of that relationship :) As for the Regalia of Japan, that's all true. If you are interested in that legend you can google it.

_**SakuraJade**_


	8. A Chase Down Yamato Highway

**A/N: **Sorry this wasn't up yesterday, time got away from me (I worked a ten hour day). This one has some action :) Only two chapters left and I'm out of chapters I'm afraid. And since the feedback for this story has been so poor I haven't been motivated to get a jump on the chapters for the second arc meaning updates will be sporadic now. Could be a few days, a few weeks, or a few months, however long it takes me to get motivated and write them out.

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

**Defying Destiny**

_Chapter 8: A Chase Down Yamato Highway_

Sakura gazed out at the city from the top of one of Tokyo's tallest sky scrappers. The wind tousled her short locks around her face as she closed her eyes in concentration.

"Well?" Syaoran asked impatiently from behind her.

She turned around and shook her head. "No, I don't feel anything, sorry."

"Not even a little energy wave?" Nakuru asked.

"No nothing." Sakura looked out at the busy city cast in twilight. "Maybe it's not dark enough yet. I mean, Dr. Mizuki did say the arigami are based off of plants and that they may attack mostly at night because they collect energy during the day."

Syoaran huffed. "Damn it, I thought we were finally going to be able to seek out the arigami instead of waiting for them to attack. You're as useless as ever if your mitama can't tell us if the arigami are around until they're right on top of us," Syaoran said, his tone acerbic.

"Well excuse me! I'm trying my best! It's not my fault. If there aren't any arigami for me to find then there aren't any arigami for me to find, end of story!" Sakura bit back.

"You might be right," Nakuru voiced, interrupting the impending fight between her coworkers. "There may be no active arigami at the moment. Or maybe there aren't any close enough to be detected. We don't know yet how far away exactly your mitama can detect arigami. They might have to be in the general vicinity for your seed to react."

"Whatever, let's go." Syaoran headed back to the chopper waiting for them on the other side of the roof.

Nakuru and Sakura followed suit. Toya sat in the pilot seat awaiting their return.

"Find anything?" he asked.

Nakuru shook her head as she sat down next to him. Toya lifted the UH-1 Huey off the roof of the building and into the steadily darkening sky. Half way back to headquarters an eerie pink glow filled the cabin of the helicopter. Sakura immediately placed a hand over the seed on her chest.

"It's the arigami!" she cried out.

"Alright! Now we're talking! Where's it at?!" Toya asked his voice laced with excitement.

Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated on the energy her seed was emitting.

"It's in Ueno Park, in the lake!!"

Syoaran narrowed his eyes, skeptical of her accuracy but said nothing.

"Then that's where we're headed! Hold on!" exclaimed Toya as he jerked the helicopter around.

The park Sakura spoke of was only a half a mile away so it wasn't long before the lake came into view. As the chopper began its short descent, Sakura peered out the widow on her side.

"Look, down there!" she shouted.

There was a red sports car parked in front of the lake on a stilted piece of land. As the chopper got closer, something gooey shot out of the lake and attached itself to the front hood of the sports car. The smell of burning rubber reached Sakura's nose as they touched down on a grassy field 100 meters away. She could hear the tires squealing over the rotary blades of the chopper as the driver desperately tried to back away from the lake. Despite the driver's efforts, the slime held tight, trying to pull the struggling car into the murky water. Everyone piled out as Toya grabbed an M-72, 66mm Light Anti-tank Weapon (also know as a LAW) from the chopper. He opened the end covers by removing the safety pins and telescoped the inner tube outwards, cocking the firing mechanism in the process. Hoisting the small rocket launcher onto his shoulder he aimed at the far end of the thick string of slime.

"Get back and cover your ears!" he ordered.

Syaoran pulled Sakura back a few steps so she wouldn't be hurt by the back-blast and bent over her to shield her. He, Nakuru, and Sakura all covered their ears as instructed just as Toya pulled the trigger. A loud explosion sounded as the rocket was propelled from the cannon. It blew the slime apart on contact, freeing the car.

"Bull's-eye!" Toya cheered.

Still set in reverse, the car flew back and smashed through the guardrail surrounding the raised piece of land. It crashed to the dirt below on its side, shattering several of the windows on impact. The horn blared, apparently stuck.

"Nice going," Syaoran commented sarcastically as he, Sakura, and Nakuru hurried to help the people inside the car.

"I got them away from the arigami, didn't I?" Toya grumbled as he discarded the one time use cannon. He took out his pistol and approached the lake, wary of another attack, but nothing happened, the dark water was completely still.

"Coward," Toya spat before joining the others.

While Sakura and Syaoran helped the man and woman inside the car, Nakuru examined the front. Still sticking to the hood was a blob of goo and it was moving.

She flipped open her cell phone and called headquarters.

"Dr. Mizuki," she said into her phone, still watching the bluish-grey gelatinous mass, "I think we finally have our live specimen."

**xXxXxXx**

"Aw man . . . I wish I'd been out on patrol with you guys last night," Meilin whined to Sakura while the two waited in line for lunch. "I hate missing the good stuff."

"It really wasn't that exciting, Meilin. After Toya shot the car free there was no more activity. I couldn't even feel it anymore."

"The fact that it got away is even more irritating," Meilin groaned.

"You know we'll get it eventually."

"Yeah but how many people have to be hurt or killed before we do?"

Sakura did not respond.

"Hey, Sakura, Meilin!"

The two T.A.C. members turned to see Chiharu and Naoko heading towards them. They cut in line with Sakura and Meilin.

"Thank God we saw you two, we'd never get our lunch eaten in time if we had to wait at the end of that line!" Naoko said.

"I know, right?" Chiharu grinned. Turning to Sakura and Meilin, she asked, "So, Fall Formal's in a week, you guys got dates yet?"

"Yeah, I'm going with Tetsuji Sawaguchi from class 3-A," Meilin informed her fellow squadmates.

"Nice, he's cute," Chiharu winked.

Meilin simply shrugged, not really into the topic.

"I'm going with Takashi Yamazaki of course. And Naoko's going with Junji Matsudaira, the goalie on the soccer team."

"What about you, Sakura?" Naoko asked.

"Nah, I'm not interested in going to the dance."

"What?!" Naoko and Chiharu shrieked simultaneously.

"But you're a cheerleader for crying out loud! We're, like, expected to be there!" Chiharu bellowed.

Sakura put a hand behind her head, a sheepish smile planted on her face. "Uh . . ."

Naoko shook her head. "Chiharu's right, Sakura, you just have to come!"

"No way, this is one issue I'm not budging on. Sorry guys."

Sakura grabbed her tray of food and hurried to her seat at the usual table tired of talking about the dance.

**xXxXxXx**

"Unbelievable!" Toya said waving around a piece of paper as he entered the room. "I save the guy's life and what does he do? He sends me an estimate for the repairs his car needs!"

"Well it was a lot of damage," Nakuru pointed out.

"Ungrateful prick," Toya grumbled as he crumpled the piece of paper into a ball and threw it in the trash.

"Oh it's not a big deal. The T.A.C. will pay for the damages his car sustained."

"That's so not the point."

Fujitaka cleared his throat and started the meeting. "So what's the deal with the specimen we got last night, Kaho?"

"It's unlike anything we've seen before. Despite that the piece we have in the lab has been severed from the main body it's moving around like it's still attached. It's incredibly resilient. From the tests Yukito and I have run, it seems to be made up of mutated algae from the bottom of the lake."

"Wow, the arigami really can transform anything . . ." Sakura said in awe.

Kaho nodded her head.

"Okay, but why did it attack that car and then run?" Toya asked slouching in his chair.

Yukito spoke. "The piece we have is only emitting a low level of energy. It could be because it's separated from the main body, but I suspect it attached itself to the algae late in the day and didn't have enough hours of daylight left after it latched on to build up the energy it required to fight. It probably intended to devour the couple in that car to give it an energy boost. When you wrecked its meal, however, it turned and fled."

"From what we've gathered through tests and observations," Kaho continued, "the size of the creature seems to depend on the energy it's been able to absorb."

"What do you mean?" Nakuru inquired.

"For example, the monster we fought in Tomoeda was huge while the dog that attacked Sakura at Tokyo Tower and the crows Sakura and Syaoran found in the park several weeks ago were relatively small. They were only slightly bigger than the animal was to begin with before they latched on. We think it was because they didn't have as much energy stored up as Orochi did when he attacked Tomoeda High. To compensate for the missing energy, those crows were attacking humans and feeding on them, which was why the number of homicides had risen that week."

"Anything else?" Fujitaka asked.

Kaho shook her head. "That's all we've gathered so far."

He rose from his seat. "Then that concludes tonight's meeting. You're all free to leave."

"Finally," Meilin said as she rose from her seat and stretched. "I have a ton of homework to get to."

"If you were smarter you'd get more work done during class," Toya teased.

Meilin shot him a glare. As soon as everyone exited the building, the ground started to shake violently.

"What's going on?!" Tomoyo cried, holding onto Eriol to keep from falling. "Is it an earthquake?!"

Sakura's seed began to glow and her eyes widened. "Worse!" she cried.

"Look out!" Sakura yelled, and she tackled Syaoran to the ground.

A second later a whirlwind of water blasted through the concrete where the pair had been standing a second ago. Everyone watched as a blob-like creature with a head, arms, and legs formed.

_**Give it back! **_it demand, the eyeless face panning over the T.A.C. members. _**I know you have it! Give it back!**_

"I think he's talking about the piece of ooze we have in the lab," Yukito said.

"Well, he's not going to get it!" Toya declared, pulling out his silver Glock 31 long range pistol and cocking it.

The creature's faceless head finally made it to Sakura and it stopped on her.

_**Kushinada . . . Once I get back what is mine I will be taking you with me**_.

It moved forward and Toya opened fire, shortly followed by Meilin.

Fujitaka took out his gun as well and began firing. "Syaoran, get the piece in the lab and get Sakura out of here!" he yelled without taking his eye off the monster.

Without a word Syaoran pushed Sakura ahead of him and in a flash they disappeared back inside the building.

"Meilin, Tomoyo, you two go with them!" he ordered. "Well hold this monster off while you escape!"

"But-" Meilin tried to say as she fired another round from her Beretta PX4 Storm at the monster.

"That's an order!"

Meilin fired a few more .9mm bullets before fleeing into the building with Tomoyo at her heels. They met up with Sakura and Syaoran in the lab. Sakura grabbed the container that held the arigami piece and the four teens raced for the underground garage where the emergency vehicles were kept. They hopped in the T.A.C. owned jeep, Syaoran and Sakura in the front, Meilin and Tomoyo in the back. Syaoran slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the jeep pealed out of the underground garage.

"Where are we going?!" Meilin asked.

"To hell if I know!" Syaoran shouted as he made a sharp turn right, fishtailing around the corner.

Meilin was tossed into Tomoyo's lap from the force.

"This is why we wear seatbelts when Syaoran drives," Tomoyo said as she patted the nylon strap across her waist.

Meilin sat back in her seat and buckled her seatbelt. "Well if Syaoran keeps driving like this we won't have to worry about the arigami killing us!"

"Nobody likes a backseat driver, Meilin," Syaoran remarked as he made another sharp turn. "Anybody got any ideas?"

"I wonder how long they'll be able to hold it. They didn't have a lot of artillery out there . . ." Tomoyo commented.

Sakura's mitama began to glow and the ground started to rumble.

"Apparently not long," Meilin said dryly.

"Head's up!" Sakura cried. She leaned over, grabbed the steering wheel with her left hand, and yanked it down, causing the car to swerve into on coming traffic.

"Are you nuts!?" Syaoran yelled, dodging a head on collision. Before he could say more the arigami blob plowed through the asphalt of the lane they had just been in.

It dove back underground and Syaoran jerked the jeep back into the correct lane.

"That's twice now," he said, not taking his eyes off the road. "You knew where it was going to come up in front of headquarters and just now. How?"

"I don't know, I can sense its next move, although barely in time to avoid it," Sakura admitted.

"Well, where's it gonna strike next?!" Meilin asked expectantly.

Sakura narrowed her eyes in concentration. "To the right!" she suddenly shouted.

Syaoran swerved the car to the left narrowly avoiding the monster again.

It dove back under and a second later Sakura shouted, "Now to the left!"

Again, they managed to avoid the attack, but barely.

"We can't keep this up!" Syaoran ground out through gritted teeth. His hands were so tight on the steering wheel his knuckles were white. "We need a plan."

"Head for the Yamato freeway," Sakura said as she pointed at the on ramp sign.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

Syoaran did as Sakura ordered and drove up the on ramp.

"Being a creature of water, he's using the sewers beneath the streets to pop up on us. The highway is elevated several feet off the ground though so that means no underground waterways to travel through," Sakura explained. "Plus, Yamato freeway makes a giant circle around Tokyo so we don't have to worry about running out of road."

"Good idea, Sakura!" Tomoyo praised.

"Thanks!"

Syaoran looked in the rearview mirror. "I hate to burst your bubble, but he's still following us!"

Everyone turned to see the blob speeding towards them from behind.

"Well, at least he can't pop up on us anymore," Sakura said.

Meilin leaned over the back seat of the topless jeep and opened a long, metal chest full of weapons. She grabbed the same type of rocket launcher Toya had used on the monster yesterday. She got it ready and stood up in the back seat.

"Alright this monster's mine!"

She took aim and fired, careful to keep the back blast from hitting anyone. The rocket smashed through the face of the monster.

"Direct hit!"

The monster continued moving, however, as its faceless head regenerated.

"What?! No way!" Meilin growled. "I hit that thing dead on!" she complained as she discarded the empty LAW.

"Then you need to take out the seed which is clearly not in the head," Syaoran said.

"I don't know where the stupid seed is!"

Syaoran had a thought. He turned to Sakura. "Since you can tell when the monster's going to strike, do you think you can use that ability of yours to find where the seed is located on it?"

"Maybe, let me try."

Sakura closed her eyes and blocked out all the noise around her. A few seconds later her eyes snapped open.

"The shoulder! The monster's seed is located in the left shoulder!"

A smirk spread across Meilin's face as she took out another rocket launcher. "Now you're going down!"

She let loose another rocket, this time aimed at the monster's left shoulder. The seed was jetted out of the blob.

"There it is!" Tomoyo cried as she watched it sail through the air.

Meilin dropped the rocket launcher to the floor of the car and whipped out her Berretta. She immediately took aim and fired several bullets at it. It shattered when the fourth bullet made contact. The seed gone, the blob instantly melted into a gigantic puddle with bits of algae scattered throughout it.

"And there it goes," Meilin said, a cocky grin on her face as she pulled her gun back and blew on the smoking tip. She sat back in her seat while Syaoran turned for the off ramp.

They headed back to the T.A.C. and met up with the others. Toya's arm had been slightly injured by a piece of falling concrete when the monster dove back underground. Yukito was patching him up when the others arrived.

"That should do it," Yukito said as he tied off the bandage.

"Thanks, Yuki."

"Oh, Toya, I'm so glad you're okay!" Nakuru wailed as she glomped onto him tightly. "Thank goodness it wasn't serious!"

"Yeah, well, it'll be okay, but I think I'm gonna have to skip chaperoning that dance at Seijou High," he said abruptly.

"Oh no you don't, you aren't getting out of this because of a measly flesh wound like that. It's hardly a scratch! The dance is a week away so it has plenty of time to heal," Nakuru said brightly, hugging him tighter.

Toya grumbled under his breath.

Kaho walked over to Sakura and took the container from her. She set it down on the floor and opened it.

"Just as I thought," she said, holding the container up for everyone else to see.

"Ewww," Meilin cringed as she started at it. It was a murky puddle with algae floating in it.

"When the main body died this piece seemed to die as well," Kaho explained. "Meaning it's no good to us anymore." She sealed the container up and headed for the lab to dispose of it.

"So much for our live specimen," Nakuru sighed.

"At least we collected the data that we did," Yukito spoke his voice full of optimism.

"That's true."

"Alright everybody, now that the excitement is over with, let's head home," Fujitaka said. "I'll call City Hall and tell them about the road work that will need to be done."

"Uh, I'm never gonna get my homework done now," Meilin groaned as she headed out of the building.

Sakura moved to follow Fujitaka but stopped when Syaoran grabbed her arm.

"Hang on a second."

Sakura turned and glanced at his fingers curled around her upper arm before she looked at him. "What is it?"

"You, uh . . . you did well," he said in a hushed voice. When Sakura didn't respond he continued. "You know, predicting all of the arigami's moves tonight. Good work."

A smile spread across Sakura's pretty face. "Thanks."

Syaoran stared at her a moment longer before dropping her arm and walking past her to follow Fujitaka. The smile Syaoran invoked on Sakura's face remained there as she hurried to catch up.

**To be continued . . .**

**Next time****:** _Chapter 9: Another Side of Syaoran _The arigami attack Sakura and the others on the streets of Tokyo and the long awaited Fall Formal is finally upon our T.A.C. teens. Will Sakura really not go, or will someone unexpected change her mind at the last second? Unfortunately, every party has a crasher . . .

**A/N: **The hardest part of this chapter to write was when I had to swerve the car since the Japanese drive on the opposite side of the road and the opposite side of the car from Americans. I had to really think about it so it made sense lol I think I got it right though.

_**SakuraJade**_


	9. Another Side of Syaoran

**A/N: **And so we've made it to the Fall Formal :) Enjoy!

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada."

**Defying Destiny**

_Chapter 9: Another Side of Syaoran_

"Tomoyo . . ." Sakura whined.

Tomoyo was holding up a beautiful knee-length, spaghetti strap gown made of a shimmering pastel pink fabric.

"What? You don't like it?" Tomoyo asked in confusion. "I made it just for you! I'm sure you'll look great in it."

Sakura sighed. "Of course I like it, Tomoyo, it's gorgeous. But I've told you all month that I'm not going to the dance."

"But why?! It's going to be so much fun, Sakura! Please come?"

Sakura shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, but I really don't want to go and if you're really my friend then you'll respect that, Tomoyo."

With a dejected sigh Tomoyo nodded her head. "You're right. I'm sorry I keep bugging you about it."

"It's okay."

"Well, I'm going to leave this here with you, you know, just in case you change your mind."

"Well I really doubt that's going to happen since the dance is tonight but if it makes you feel better then go ahead."

Tomoyo walked over to Sakura's closet and hung the dress up.

"You never know. I'd hate for you to change your mind then have nothing to wear. Besides, I made it for you so I want you to have it. Maybe you can wear it some other time."

"Maybe," Sakura said, not bothering to hide the doubt in her voice.

"Well, will you at least come with me and Meilin to the salon to get our hair done?"

Sakura smiled. "Sure, I'd love to hang out with you guys and help you get ready."

Tomoyo stopped her pouting immediately and hugged her newest friend. They crossed the hall to Syaoran's room and knocked on his door.

"What?" he asked when he saw the girls standing there outside his bedroom door.

"Get your coat, Syaoran! We're going out!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "Sakura's going to help Meilin and me get ready for the formal!"

Syaoran raised his eyebrows. "What, now?"

Tomoyo nodded her head eagerly.

"It's only noon! The dance isn't until 7 o'clock tonight!" he exclaimed with an exaggerated wave of his hand.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes at his naivety. "Perfection takes time, Syaoran. It doesn't just happen. Now get your coat on, time's a wasting!"

With a grumble Syaoran did as he was told and followed the girls out the door.

"Where are we going?"

"To the salon of course!" Tomoyo chirped. "Meilin and I have to go get our hair and nails done for the dance silly."

Syaoran groaned. "Not the salon again."

Sakura giggled behind her hand but stopped abruptly as Syaoran glared at her. It was going to be a long day for him.

**xXxXxXx**

The sun had just finished setting when Sakura and the others walked out of the salon. The dance would be starting in two hours.

"Five hours!" Syaoran bellowed. "How do you spend five hours in a salon!?"

Meilin shrugged. "Well we weren't the only ones getting our hair and nails done, Syaoran. And hair like this takes time," Meilin said with a flick of her fancy ponytail.

Syaoran growled at Meilin's indifference. It had been torture for him. All he did was sit in a chair and stare at fashion magazines the whole time as that was all there was to look at in the waiting room. He was sure this afternoon had lowered his IQ by several points.

"Hurry up, I want to go home and enjoy what's left of my evening," he complained as he stomped down the sidewalk.

The three girls hurried after their impatient team member.

"Thanks for coming, Sakura," Tomoyo smiled as she played with one of the soft curls coming from the bun situated on the back of her head.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but stopped short when her seed lit up.

"Oh great," Meilin said, immediately eyeing the street for the unwelcome guest they were about to have.

The earth began to rumble beneath their feet and seconds later a gigantic misshapen caterpillar broke through the concrete in the middle of the street. The cars driving by slammed on their breaks to avoid crashing into the monstrosity and ended up causing a severe pileup. Those that managed to avoid a wreck spun around and fled the scene in the opposite direction. Pedestrians ran, screaming, for the nearest building to hide in. The beast looked around and its eyes stopped on the T.A.C. teens before it opened its massive jaws and began spraying silk webbing in their direction. The gang split apart in an attempt to avoid being hit. Tomoyo and Meilin ended up on the other side of the street from Syaoran and Sakura.

Meilin cried out in annoyance as she pulled some sticky silk from the ends of her lengthy ebony ponytail. "Son of a bitch! I can't believe it just shot that shit all over my new hairdo!"

"Cry about your hair later, we have bigger problems to worry about!" Syaoran shouted indicating the abnormally large bug in between them.

The monster turned its head in the direction of Syaoran's voice and its beady red eyes stopped on Sakura. A rasping voice filled their heads.

_**You are the one! The one we need to kill in order to be free!**_

Sakura took a step back but stopped when her backside bumped into a car. There were several cars; all smashed together blocking her escape. With the vehicles to her back, the creature closed in on her.

_**You're mine, Kushinada!**_

The arigami opened its jaws again and more milky white silk shot out. Sakura ducked, thinking it was coming for her, but stood back up moments later when she was silk free. She watched in confusion as the bug spit its silk in a wide radius, surrounding both her and itself. Syaoran saw the dome of silk being constructed and rushed in right before it was completely closed up. Sakura didn't understand why the monster would entrap itself inside a giant dome-shaped cocoon with her. It didn't make any sense.

"I don't know what you're planning, but trapping me in a cocoon isn't going to do anything!" Sakura hissed, trying to stand strong.

A deep, cruel laugh erupted from the monster. He focused on his prey as he spoke.

_**This is no ordinary thread Princess Kushinada! On the contrary, it is just the thing needed to kill you. I ingested some pieces of the special ceramic crystals needed to stop your blood energy making this cocoon-**_

"A ceramic field . . ." Sakura finished. She was too stunned by the way her situation had changed so quickly to do more than just stand there.

_**Yes . . . It was rather ingenious of me, wasn't it? **_It let out another cruel bought of laughter. _**But I digress. Goodbye Kushinada, enjoy the afterlife!**_

The monster dove for Sakura, its bone-crushing jaws opened wide, ready to devour her. Sakura closed her eyes and tensed for the attack, but her eyes popped back open when she heard an agonizing wail. She saw Syaoran with his sword embedded in the side of the caterpillar.

"Don't just stand there, move!" he ordered.

Sakura did as she was told, and scrambled past the monster and out of its immediate range. Though she was no longer boxed in by the ruined automobiles, she couldn't get very far locked inside the dome. She hid behind a car, her head peeking over the hood to see what was going on. She watched as Syaoran repeatedly dodged and slashed at the monster. Despite all his attempts, the arigami didn't seem to be wavering in the intensity of its attacks. Syaoran narrowly dodged its pincers and rolled to the side, cursing.

"Damn it! I can't see where the seed is with all its hair!"

Without a second thought, Sakura dashed out from behind the car so she had a good view of the arigami. She stood perfectly still with her eyes closed.

"What are you doing you idiot?! Don't come closer!" Syaoran snarled as he blocked one of the caterpillar's long, bristly legs with his sword.

"Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate!" Sakura argued back, not opening her eyes.

Within seconds they opened.

"It's in its neck! Aim for its neck, Li!" she instructed.

Syaoran smirked, that was all he needed to know. With a swift leap, Syaoran landed on the roof of a smashed up car. He positioned his sword at shoulder level and sprang upward in a flash. With a powerful swing of his sharp, broad sword, he sliced cleanly through the soft flesh of the monster's throat, cracking the blue seed in the process. The monster howled and deteriorated instantly.

Syaoran stood up from his kneeling position and mopped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked Sakura as she approached him.

"Yes," she responded with a small nod of her head. She looked around at the encasing they were trapped in. "But how are we going to get out of here?"

Syaoran pulled out a small, yellow rectangular piece of paper with cursive kanji scribbled across it.

"I should be able to burn a hole through it with some of my ofudas."

Several minutes later, the pair emerged from the cocoon. Meilin and Tomoyo rushed over to them and were relieved to find them okay. Tomoyo quickly pressed a few buttons on her cell phone, canceling the alert she sent the others regarding back up.

"What are we going to do about this?" Sakura asked, gesturing at the silk dome.

"A clean up crew is already on their way to take care of it," Tomoyo replied.

"Yeah, well who's gonna take care of my hair!?" Meilin whined, pulling more of the sticky thread from her ponytail.

"I'm sure we can get that stuff out of your hair before the dance," Sakura said reassuringly.

Tomoyo smiled. "Speaking of, we need to get going. Meilin and I still have to get dressed."

While the four teenagers headed down the street for their car, a young lady with short purple hair spiked out in the back, half hidden in the evening shadows zoomed in on Sakura with her state-of-the-art camera and snapped another picture.

"This makes three," she whispered to herself. "Now I'm sure of it. That girl is tied to the arigami, and I'm going to find out how."

She tucked her camera in her messenger bag and slipped away quietly into the night.

**xXxXxXx**

Sakura sat on the soft, lush grass in the backyard of Fujitaka's house, her mind aimlessly wandering. With a heavy sigh she rested her chin on her knees, her arms wrapped around her shins. It had been a long day. Helping Meilin and Tomoyo get ready for the dance and fighting with the arigami had been exhausting. Suddenly someone sat down next to her. Her eyes shifted to the right and she saw Syaoran leaning back on his arms, staring out at the yard.

"What are you up to?" he asked.

Sakura shrugged. "Nothing really. Just getting some fresh air and winding down for the evening." Sakura glanced up at the few stars she could see in the deep blue sky. "I wish I could see more stars."

"Yeah, living in the city means ambient light from all the skyscrapers and ambient light means little to no stargazing."

Sakura turned to look at Syaoran. "So, what brought you out here? I'm sure it wasn't to have this stimulating conversation with me," she finished with a chuckle.

He held up his sword. "I was gonna practice a little."

Sakura rolled her eyes slightly. "Fighting with the arigami today just wasn't enough, huh?"

"Well, it's not like I have anything else to do tonight and practice makes perfect."

"You seemed pretty close to perfect today," Sakura slipped. She blushed immediately and looked away, hoping it was dark enough outside to hide it from Syaoran. "I mean with the arigami, you took care of it pretty effectively. It was an impressive display."

Syaoran coughed, his own cheeks turning a rosy color at her compliment. "Yeah well, it was a joint effort, what with you telling me where to strike it. We make a pretty good team against them."

Sakura turned back to him with a sweet smile on her face causing his cheeks to darken a shade.

"Yeah, I guess we kind of do."

Sakura took to staring out at the yard again, but Syaoran continued to look at her. Unable to take his unyielding gaze, Sakura finally turned back to him.

"What?"

"You really didn't want to go, did you?"

"Go where?" she asked in confusion.

"To the dance. I mean several guys asked you throughout the month, I saw them. And you turned every single one of them down, just like you said you would."

Sakura shifted her eyes from his face to the grass in between them.

"It was never a matter of wanting to go or not."

Now Syaoran was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't want to jeopardize someone's safety like I did Daisuke's when we went on a date. It wouldn't be fair to them. And of course I didn't want to go stag so . . ."

Syaoran understood. She didn't want to selfishly put someone else at risk. He admired her for that, but he also felt something he didn't feel often: he felt sorry for her. It was a feeling similar to the one he felt when Daisuke had run away from her like she was sick with a fatal disease that was contagious. It was a noble act, but it just didn't seem fair to her. As much as the T.A.C. wanted to find another way of obliterating the arigami, not being able to find a way was still a very real possibility and the cost of that possibility would be Sakura's life. With the weight of mankind's survival on her shoulders she deserved to have fun while she could, to be a normal teenager when she had a chance. Attending a school dance seemed like one of those chances to Syaoran.

_And . . . if I can help her do that . . . then I should, shouldn't I?_

After internally battling with himself for several minutes, Syaoran spoke up. "I understand. But . . . well, what if you could go with someone that wouldn't be in danger around you?"

Sakura stared at him dubiously. "Uh, in case you haven't noticed, Li, I'm kind of a monster magnet. Besides, even if there was a guy like that, the dance started a half hour ago, so it's a little late to ask him now."

"Nah, I don't think so. I know for a fact he doesn't have any plans tonight."

"How would you-" Sakura stopped short, her eyes widening. _No way, he wouldn't . . . would he?_

"You?? You're talking about yourself?!"

A cocky grin spread across his face. "The one and only."

"No offense, Li, but you don't strike me as the kind of guy that's into school functions."

"Hey, I joined the soccer team, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but that's different. You like physical activity and you're good at soccer."

"Dancing is a physical activity," he pointed out.

Sakura burst out laughing. "You dancing?! Now that is something I'd have to see to believe."

"Well then let's go."

Sakura's laughter died on her lips and she started at him, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "You're serious, aren't you? You're really willing to go with me?"

Syaoran shrugged. "Why not? Like I said I don't have anything going on tonight and the arigami don't pose a huge threat to me since I'm trained to fight them on a daily bases. Plus, Tomoyo already made you a dress so it's not like you don't have anything to wear. Besides, if you had decided to go I would have had to go anyway, so I might as well just escort you there myself."

When Sakura didn't respond he added, "Aren't you the one that said we should try to live as close to normal teenager as we can? Isn't that why you joined the cheerleading squad?"

"You're right. Thank you, Li, really," Sakura said with a smile.

Syaoran stood up and held out a hand to help her up. She took it and the pair headed for the house to get ready.

**xXxXxXx**

Tomoyo burst into a squeal of excitement the minute Sakura and Syaoran walked through the gymnasium doors in their formal attire. She made a beeline straight for them and crushed Sakura to her in a hug.

"Sakura, you came!" she exclaimed, squeezing tighter. "I kept hoping you'd change your mind, but I was really starting to think you weren't going to come!"

Sakura wiggled out of her friend's tight grasp.

"Well, you know, I didn't want this beautiful dress you made me to go to waste."

Tomoyo's eye's shined upon seeing her work of art in action on Sakura. It came out perfectly. Then she looked from Sakura to Syaoran.

"So . . . what, you came together? Like a date?"

"No, no, nothing like that, Li's just acting as an escort," Sakura responded, her cheeks flushed.

"On your date," Tomoyo reiterated.

"No, we-"

"You're here together, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then it's a date," Tomoyo grinned from ear to ear.

"It's not a date," Syaoran cut in. He knew how Tomoyo could get. "Just be happy she ended up coming," he added.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop," Tomoyo conceded.

"Saaaakkuraaa!"

Sakura turned at the sound of someone singing her name. Waving from across the room was Nakuru, her arm securely fastened to Toya's. Within seconds she dragged him across the floor to the others.

"I thought you weren't going to come?!" she cried, still holding Toya to her possessively.

"I had a change of heart," she replied as she glanced at Syaoran secretly. A small, lopsided smile appeared on his face in response.

"Oh I'm so glad," she moved her eyes to Toya, "See? It's a good thing we still came after all."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Toya grumbled. "Now that Sakura's here I'm going to go scout the perimeter to make sure everything is secure."

He started to walk but stopped after a few steps and glanced back at Sakura. "Enjoy your formal," he said gruffly, with a hint of a smile at his lips and headed off into the crowd of students.

Sakura smiled brightly.

"He acts like a hotshot, but he's really a big softy. It's why I care for him so much," Nakuru sighed lovingly, then proceeded to dance after Toya.

"I'll meet back up with you guys in a minute, I have to go take care of something," Tomoyo announced before she too headed off into the crowd.

Syaoran turned to Sakura and waved an arm out in front. "So, you ready to go enjoy your formal?"

Sakura nodded and headed into the dance, Syaoran following closely behind her.

**xXxXxXx**

As the night progressed, to Syaoran's surprise, he was actually having a good time and he could tell Sakura was too. Currently, he was standing by the punch table sipping from a cup as he watched the girls goof off on the dance floor. Sakura was all smiles as she spun around with Tomoyo and Meilin, and that in turn made him smile. Eventually a slower song came on and Tomoyo and Meilin were whisked away by their dates. Sakura joined Syaoran at the punch table.

"Thirsty?" he asked, noticing her rosy cheeks.

Sakura began fanning her face with her hand. "Yes, it's so hot in here."

"That's because you've been jumping around since we got here," he teased. He ladled some punch into a cup and handed it to her. She thanked him and downed the whole thing in one gulp before she set the empty Styrofoam cup down and stared at Syaoran expectantly.

Syaoran raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I believe you owe me some dancing," she replied with an evil grin.

"Alright fine," Syaoran replied, draining his punch and tossing his cup in the trash. "Let's do this."

He took Sakura by the arm gently and led her out onto the dance floor. He positioned her in front of him, gently took one of her hands in his, and placed his other arm around her waist firmly, automatically pulling her closer. He blushed slightly when he felt Sakura's supple chest press against him. He seldom got this physically close to anyone. He was definitely the type of person that preferred to have that three foot bubble of space. But . . . having Sakura invade that space wasn't really bothering him . . .

He ignored the warm feeling that began to build in his own chest and began to move her around the dance floor in harmony to the rhythm of the slow song.

Off to the side of the dance floor, Nakuru sighed as she placed her dainty hand to her chest. "Oh, look at how cute Sakura and Syaoran look."

Toya simply grunted in response. Nakuru tucked a loose strand of her long, mahogany colored hair behind her ear. She continued to fidget while Toya watched her out of the corner of his eye. After a minute of watching her, he let out a resigned sigh.

"Akizuki . . ."

She locked her butterscotch eyes with his sepia ones, her brow delicately creased in curiosity.

"Would you like to go dance?" he mumbled as he tore his eyes away from hers and stared out at the dance floor.

A sunny smile spread across Nakuru's face from ear to ear. "Oh yes, I'd love to!"

Before he could change his mind, Nakuru seized his arm and towed him towards the middle of the dance floor.

"Don't say I never do anything nice for you," Toya complained as Nakuru tugged him along. Despite his sour tone, there was a ghost of a smile on his face.

Sakura giggled as she watched Toya stumble about with Nakuru in his arms. Despite their awkward dancing, Nakuru was beaming and Toya still had that tiny grin on his face as well.

She looked up at Syaoran, flashing him a pretty smile. "I have to say, you are light on your feet," she admitted as he continued to effortlessly glide across the room with her. "I never pictured you as one for dancing."

"I'm not, this is the first time I've ever slow danced. But I do practice martial arts regularly which requires me to be 'light on my feet', and since dancing requires the same I'm just applying the same principles," he stated.

"Well regardless, you turned out to be a pretty good escort. Thank you for taking me, Li, really." Her bright emerald eyes held his intense liquid amber ones and conveyed the sincerity in her words.

No one had ever looked at Syaoran with such gratitude before and it unnerved him. Yet, he found himself tightening his hold on her and drawing her lithe form just a little closer. She really appreciated this small act he was doing for her, she really appreciated him and it felt . . . good. At that thought, Syaoran smiled, a real, genuine smile, shocking Sakura.

Since she'd met him she'd never really seen him smile. He smirked all the time, and he even let a little grin slide on his face from time to time, but he _never_ smiled wholeheartedly like he was doing right then. He looked so alive, so carefree. He even looked rather handsome, which was an adjective Sakura didn't normally associate with Syaoran. His honest smile invoked a warm, fuzzy feeling inside her that seemed to wrap itself around her heart. His smile made her happy.

And then, in the middle of their sweet moment, a pinkish glow began to emanate from Sakura's chest and everything fell apart.

Several of the high windows on the western side of the gym shattered instantaneously, raining glass down on the students. Syaoran immediately covered Sakura to protect her from the shards pouring down on them. Though he sustained most of the damage, several piece managed to hit her anyway, tearing her dress and cutting the smooth skin of her arms. As the last of the glass crashed to the floor a figure jumped through with amazing agility and grace.

It was Yue.

Syaoran pushed Sakura behind him, attempting to keep her would-be killer away from her. Yue began to march towards them, his bare feet unfazed by the jagged glass crunching beneath them as he stalked towards his prey. Syaoran immediately released his sword and took a defensive stance. The rest of the students, scared at the sudden turn the dance had taken, began stampeding for the exits.

"I knew you'd be here," Yue sneered, his cold eyes watching Sakura. "So predictable."

He stopped in his track, his brow knitting in irritation as he saw Meilin and Toya walk up and flank Syaoran on either side while Nakuru and Eriol pulled Sakura out of the way. Tomoyo had moved off to the side of the room, her cell phone in hand, already alerting Kaho and Fujitaka of the situation that had developed. He hadn't counted on this many people being here to protect the kushinada. He realized that he was gravely out number.

He needed a new plan.

"Alright, looks like coming to this dance wasn't a waste of time after all," Toya said, pulling a gun from the inside of his suit jacket and pointing it dead on at the intruder. He eyed the blue mitamas that covered the man and leaned towards Meilin. "This wouldn't by any chance be that man with seven mitamas you guys fought a while back would it?"

Meilin lifted the hem of her dress and pulled her Berretta PX4 Storm out of the case that was strapped to her thigh. "Nothing gets past you," she replied sarcastically.

"You wanna make trouble?! Well, come on!" Syaoran shouted, itching to take a stab at Yue. He was still furious about his performance against this particular foe the last time they fought and he was hoping the outcome would be different this time.

"So anxious to lose again?" Yue replied, his tone laced with malice. Without waiting for a reply he charged at the three.

Meilin and Toya immediately let loose with their guns, firing repeatedly at the oncoming figure. Yue was able to dodge every bullet with immaculate success and within seconds he was upon them. They scattered in order to avoid the deadly swipes of the silver forearm blades that had ripped through his skin as he neared them. With the three of them split apart, he charged at Syaoran. Syaoran readied himself for the onslaught, but just as Yue reached him he veered to the right sharply. Before anyone knew what had happened, he had Tomoyo in his grasp, one of his forearm blades pressed to her soft throat.

Everyone froze immediately.

"Tomoyo!" Eriol cried, his heart hammering in his chest at the sight of his date in Yue's clutches.

Tomoyo didn't utter a sound, but she didn't have to, her eyes said everything. They were mixed with shock and fear.

"I'm afraid this situation doesn't appeal to me, so I'll be taking my leave with this one as my leverage. If you want her back, it's really rather simple. This one, for that one," he said as he fixed his eyes on Sakura. "Be at the place you call 'the pit' at noon tomorrow with the kushinada or I'll slit her pretty little snow white throat," he barked as he drew one of his blades along the flawless skin of Tomoyo's throat, drawing a thin line of crimson, to emphasize his threat.

"No, please don't hurt her!" Eriol begged, his stomach churning at the thought of Yue murdering his sweet coworker and classmate.

Sakura glanced at Eriol for a second before looking back at Tomoyo. She was upset too, but Eriol sounded absolutely devastated. She'd never seen him so distraught; he was usually so calm and collected.

"Then you'll do as I've instructed."

Finally finding her voice, Tomoyo screamed out in protest as he sprang into the air and disappeared out one of the broken windows, taking her with him. As he ran off with her, her screams faded into the night.

**To be continued . . .**

**Next time****:** _Chapter 10: The Loss of One. _In an effort to get Tomoyo back from Yue, the T.A.C. heads to the pit as he instructed and is ambushed by the arigami. The bombs Toya and Nakuru plant around the half constructed building are the only way to win, but not without a hefty price . . .

**A/N:** So, Yue's back in the picture and now Tomoyo's been taken. You know the drill! Hit that nice little button at the bottom and let me know what ya think! :) Because of the lack of feedback, the next chapter is the last one for now so if ya want more you all better start to review . . .

_**SakuraJade**_


	10. The Loss of One

**A/N: **I figure it's fair warning to say that some of you might not like how this chapter ends . . . So just keep in mind the type of author I am. The chorus to a song called _Angels on the Moon_ by **Thriving Ivory** is used in this chapter. It's very fitting for the second half of this chapter. You can youtube it if you want to hear it. The video is nothing special but the song is excellent. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Also this is will be the last scheduled update as I am out of premade chapters. So don't count on seeing the next chapter next Wednesday because it won't be posted, it's only half way done. The lack of reviews isn't very inspiring so now the chapters will get done when they get done. I don't feel driven to get the chapters done so no promises on the amount of time that will take like before. So there you have it. But a very heart felt thanks to those of you who have taken the time to at least review a chapter or two. You guys rock :) And it's you guys that have insured the survival of this story at all, so everyone else that likes this story owes you guys some gratitude!

" means spoken words

_Italics_ means thoughts

_**Bold italics**_ means telepathic speaking from the arigami

**Disclaimer:** "I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura, CLAMP does. And Blue Seed is owned by Yuzo Takada. Also, the lyrics at the bottom of this chapter are to a song titled Angels on the Moon by an up and coming band named Thriving Ivory. Rights to the song are theirs."

**Defying Destiny**

_Chapter 10: The Loss of One_

"We have to do something!"

"We will, Eriol, but first you need to calm down."

"How can you expect me to calm down, Nakuru?! Yue's got Tomoyo! What if he hurts her?! She's not trained to handle this kind of situation! She's only our PR rep for crying out loud!"

"That may be true, but give her some credit. Let's not forget she shot Yue the last time we fought with him."

Eriol wiped his hands down his face. "Yeah, well, this time she doesn't have my gun, Meilin. And the fact that she shot Yue once before makes me worry about her safety that much more because I'm sure he hasn't forgotten that she shot him either . . ."

Sakura's eyes bounced back and forth between Eriol and the others as they tried to clam him down. As soon as Yue made off with Tomoyo the other T.A.C. members high tailed it to headquarters. Those who had attended Seijou High's Fall Formal were still dressed in their semi-formal attire. Kaho had already bandaged the few cuts Sakura and Syaoran had received from the down pour of glass Yue had caused when he busted into the gym. Everyone was seated around the oval table in the conference room and so far, all their time had been spent trying to make Eriol relax.

Sakura decided to speak up.

"I'm every bit as worried about her as you are, Eriol, but there's really nothing we can do right now. Yue told us to meet him at the pit at noon tomorrow so he might not even be there yet. And if he is, and we show before he requested, then he might hurt Tomoyo to get back at us. As soon as noon rolls around tomorrow we will be there to save Tomoyo, but in the meantime, we need to come up with a plan."

Eriol nodded his head, appeased for the moment. Syaoran cocked an eyebrow.

"What do you mean 'we'? You're not going."

Sakura's face took on a nonplussed look. "Of course I'm going, I'm part of the team and Tomoyo's my friend."

"That may be so, but it will be too dangerous to bring you with," Fujitaka said, siding with Syaoran. "Yue knows we won't trade you for Tomoyo so he probably demanded that we meet him at the pit several hours from now so he has time to set a trap for us. And that being the case we can't bring you near there."

Fujitaka's words were like a slap to Sakura's face. The truth of the matter was that her status as the kushinada would always out weigh her status as a T.A.C. member or anything else for that matter. Being the kushinada would take precedence over everything else, including the life of her friend.

Sakura hated that fact. It just didn't seem fair that her life should weigh more than someone else's.

Not willing to give in, Sakura spoke again. "Dangerous or not, I have to go. Yue said me for Tomoyo. If you guys show up without me he might kill Tomoyo immediately for not listening."

"She's right," Eriol agreed. "If we show up without Sakura it'd be like sentencing Tomoyo to death for sure."

Fujitaka let out a heavy sigh as he vigorously rubbed his temples. The situation had become so complicated.

"I'll be careful," Sakura promised in an effort to persuade Fujitaka.

After a drawn out silence, he finally agreed. "But you are not to leave Syaoran's side for a second, do you understand? I don't care what is happening."

Sakura nodded her head.

"Alright then, we are going to take two vehicles, half the team in one car and half the team in the other. Eriol, Meilin," he said addressing the two teens specifically, "when we arrive, you two will split from the rest of the team and go retrieve Tomoyo from wherever she may be. Since we are sure this will be a trap, Nakuru and Toya will lay bombs around the infrastructure of the building so we can blow it up, thus destroying the pit if we have to, once Eriol and Meilin have secured Tomoyo. Kaho, Yukito, and I will cover you two as you do that. And of course Syaoran will keep Sakura out of danger. Any questions?" he asked. When no one responded he continued, "Then everyone head to the weapons department and start loading the cars."

As the team headed out of the conference room Eriol placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Thank you for being such a good friend to Tomoyo. I know she'd appreciate it, and so do I."

Sakura smiled warmly. "I know she'd do the same for me."

Eriol nodded before exiting the room.

**xXxXxXx**

Once the weapons were loaded into the vehicles there was nothing left to do but wait until noon tomorrow so everyone headed home for the night. Sakura and Syaoran were driving to their house in the car they took to the dance. Syaoran's tie was laying across the back seat where he'd discarded it earlier, the first two buttons of his white collared dress shirt undone so he could breath easier. Fujitaka had suggested they all get some sleep, but Sakura doubted that she'd be able to. She had a feeling Eriol wouldn't sleep much either.

As if reading her thoughts, Syaoran broke the silence.

"I can't believe how worked up Eriol is over this."

"What, you're not worried about Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.

"Of course I'm worried about her but she's a member of the T.A.C. It's a dangerous job, something like this can happen to any one of us. Tomoyo knows that and even though she hasn't gone through the training that the rest of us have, she's still not completely clueless either."

"Well that may be so, but Eriol can't help getting worked up over this. Tomoyo being in danger is different for him than it is for you."

Syaoran glanced at Sakura. "How so?"

"Can't you tell? Eriol cares about Tomoyo a lot."

"You're saying I don't?" he asked defensively. "Tomoyo and I might not be best friends or anything but she's still a fellow team member and classmate. Of course I care about her."

"Not like Eriol you don't."

Syaoran raised his eyebrows for emphasis and Sakura shook her head at his naivety. Apparently she was going to have to spell it out for him.

"Eriol likes Tomoyo, and not like the rest of us. He has feelings for her. From the way he was freaking out earlier he might even be in love with her."

"Oh . . ." was all Syaoran could think to say. "Really?" he added after a minute.

Sakura gave a nod of her head. "Couldn't you tell? I haven't known him for very long, but he's always been the picture of calmness until tonight, when something happened to Tomoyo. He did a really good job of hiding it. Even when he asked her to the dance it really sounded more like he was asking a friend to hang out than asking a girl he has a crush on. I wonder why all the secrecy? Maybe he was afraid Tomoyo wouldn't reciprocate. Or maybe he doesn't want to mix business with pleasure or something."

Syaoran shrugged his shoulders, not particularly interested in the answer. Musing about feelings of the heart wasn't exactly his forte. He himself had never had a girlfriend or even a crush on a girl for that matter. He'd never been in love so he was the last person to discuss such a topic with. He couldn't even tell Eriol had feelings for Tomoyo based on the way he was acting.

When Syaoran didn't respond verbally, Sakura spoke again. "I'm not sure if Tomoyo would return his feelings, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did."

"Well before you start worrying about Tomoyo's love life, let's focus on getting her back safe and sound so she has any kind of life at all," Syaoran said as he pulled the car into their driveway.

Sakura nodded her head. _Please be okay, Tomoyo . . . _

**xXxXxXx**

As both cars pulled up to the pit, Sakura felt apprehensive. Try as she might, she could not shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Her mitama had begun its glowing ritual before they'd even pulled up to the gate surrounding the complex. Everyone piled out of their designated vehicles, artillery in hand. As promised, Sakura stuck to Syaoran like glue. Toya and Meilin lead the group, guns drawn and pointed forward as they scanned the area for any threats. Nakuru and Eriol went next, guns also at the ready. Sakura and Syaoran stayed back somewhat. As they neared the half constructed building, Yue appeared at the top of the iron skeleton. Everyone halted.

"So, you showed after all," his eyes fell on Sakura, "with the kushinada in tow."

Eriol spoke before anyone else could. "Where's Tomoyo?!"

"Oh she's here, alive and well as promised. I do have some honor in me." A malicious gaze entered Yue's cold, stony blue eyes. "Although I doubt you'll live to see her again."

Within seconds all hell broke loose.

Several arigami monsters, of both animal and plant persuasion, stormed out of the pit and straight for the team. Immediately they opened fire with their guns, filling the air with the smell of gun powder. Even Sakura had been given a small pocket handgun – a silver Beretta 21 Bobcat inox., courtesy of Meilin – in which she wasted no time in using. Despite having no prior gun training, the pocket sized handgun was easy to fire for Sakura as Meilin had said it would be due to the fact that it was precisely rifled for accuracy. As planned, as soon as they had a chance, Eriol and Meilin split from the team and headed for the back of the building, taking down some monsters as they went. Once they were out of sight, Nakuru and Toya set to work strategically placing bombs around the building.

Arigami continued to come from the pit, threatening to overwhelm the T.A.C. members.

"They just keep coming!" Nakuru cried.

"I know! If we don't cave in the pit soon, there will be too many monsters to stop!" Toya growled as he set another bomb near the foundation of the building.

From his vantage point up top, Yue watched the fighting. "Kill the others, but leave the kushinada and her bodyguard to me!" he ordered before he jumped from his perch atop the incomplete steel structure.

He landed on his feet and immediately made a beeline for Syaoran. Ready for the attack, Syaoran's trusty sword clashed with Yue's unnaturally long – and unrealistically strong – fingernails.

"I see you've been practicing," Yue growled after Syaoran successfully parried another blow aimed at slicing his throat wide open.

"You bet your ass I have!" Syaoran replied and took an offensive swipe of his own.

Yue managed to dodge it but not by much. Sakura watched the duel playing out in front of her. She'd reloaded her gun the way Meilin showed her to before they arrived at the pit, but she didn't trust herself to fire at Yue, not with Syaoran so close. With her inability to aim properly, she could very well hit her teammate by accident. It wasn't a risk she was willing to take, so she watched, helplessly, as Yue and Syaoran exchanged blow for blow.

Eriol and Meilin had managed to get into the building from the back and were frantically looking for their missing team member. Within minutes they found her, tied to one of the iron beams holding up the half constructed apartment complex, right before the cave of the pit started.

"Tomoyo!" Eriol cried.

She looked up at the sound of her name and relief washed over her tear streaked face. The relief mirrored Eriol's. He and Meilin set to work untying her immediately. The moment she was free Eriol took her in his arms and looked her over for damage. Her usually well groomed hair was in disarray and her dress was rumpled from the way she had been sitting on it on the ground. A thin line of dried blood was still present on her neck from the cut Yue had given her the night before at the dance but he hadn't appeared to harm her further at least.

"Thank God we found you, that monster didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, but they were going to eat me after they took care of the rest of you," Tomoyo answered with a shiver.

Eriol tightened his hold on her. "Well you're safe now."

"Uh, not exactly, we still have to get out of here, so move it!" Meilin exclaimed.

The trio took three steps before the ground began to rumble somewhat violently. They looked over their shoulders into the impenetrable blackness of the cave behind them. To their horror, several thick, green vines emerged from the dark, aiming for them.

"Run!" Eriol ordered as he grabbed Tomoyo's hand firmly and yanked her into a sprint.

Within moments they were scrambling out of the front entrance of the building, the vines not far behind them.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura cried at the sight of her friend with the others.

Upon seeing Tomoyo with Eriol and Meilin, Toya pulled a small remote control from the pocket of his jacket. It only contained one small, red button.

"Everybody get back I'm gonna detonate it!" he shouted.

Yue cursed and shoved Syaoran back a few feet before he charged for Toya. He was so fast no one could utter a warning to him before Yue was upon him. In a flash he'd backhanded the remote control from Toya's grip and sent it flying before he roughly tossed him a yard or so across the field. The remote sailed through the air and landed with a dull thud near the half constructed complex.

"Toya!" Nakuru screamed. With a fierce determination, she scrambled for the idle remote.

Just as Nakuru reached the remote, a vine from the building snaked around her legs and wrenched her to the dry, dirt covered ground. It began to drag her back towards the pit. Before the remote was out of reach, she snatched it off the ground. The vine continued to reel her in as another one wound itself around her torso.

Now standing alone and in the open, Kaho and Fujitaka opened fire on Yue, drilling several bullets into his flesh. Wounded and under heavy fire from two worthy opponents, Yue decided to throw in the towel for now and retreat.

_At least this battle wasn't a complete loss for us,_ he thought, eyeing Nakuru being dragged towards the building as he made a run for it. He managed to vault over the temporary construction site fence before he split for the surrounding forest, disappearing into the autumn colored trees.

Toya was back on his feet and racing to help Nakuru while the others continued to deal with the monsters that were left and the vines threatening to do bodily harm to them.

"Stay back!" Nakuru cried when she saw him heading for her.

The seriousness in Nakuru's words stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't come any closer, it's too dangerous!" she yelled as she placed her thumb over the little red button.

Toya's eyes widened. "What are you doing?! Don't touch that button! You're too close to the blast site!"

Nakuru locked her eyes with Toya's, a heart wrenching gaze poured forth from them.

"I have to detonate the bombs and close up the pit before they overwhelm us. We can't let them get Sakura."

Toya understood instantly what that meant. It was an act of self sacrifice. A nauseating feeling took hold of his body and his stomach twisted at the thought.

"Akizuki, don't!"

A weak smile formed on Nakuru's tender lips. "I told you to call me Nakuru!" The smile fell from her face as the vine began to drag her body through the doorway of the building and a wistful look replaced it. "I really do love you, Toya. Please don't ever forget that."

Toya made to run for her, but Yukito and Meilin tackled him to the ground to keep him back. Nakuru closed her eyes and slammed her thumb down on the button as her body disappeared into the building.

"Nakuru!"

A second later the entire place erupted in a ragging explosion.

"No! Nakuru!" Toya wailed and struggled against the hold Yukito and Meilin had on him. "Let me go!! Nakuruuuuu!!!"

Tomoyo began to cry outwardly as she watched the hot flames lick the building as it crumble. Eriol pulled her to him and she buried her face in his chest, unable to stand the sight of her comrade's fiery grave any longer. Eriol was not ashamed to let some of his own tears fall for his partner. He'd worked so closely with Nakuru for so long that she had been like a big sister to him.

Tears welled in Sakura's eyes and wound their way down her cheeks as she watched the building her teammate and friend was in collapse in on itself. The thought of losing Nakuru was so overwhelming she felt herself falling as her legs began to fail her and buckled under her weight. Syaoran reached out to steady her but found he couldn't find the strength to stand at that moment either. Together they sank to their knees. Sakura locked her sullen eyes on his before throwing her arms around his neck. He embraced her back, one hand around her waist, the other clasping the back of her head, and buried his face in the crook of her small neck while she sob into his shoulder. He wasn't one for affection, but even he could use a hug at the moment. As the flames danced on top of what used to be the pit, the pair just knelt there, holding on to one another, unable to utter a single word.

_Don't tell me if I'm dying,_

'_cause I don't want to know_

_If I can't see the sun,_

_then maybe I should go_

_Don't wake me 'cause I'm dreamin',_

_of angels on the moon_

_Where everyone you know,_

_never leaves too soon . . . _

Hearing Toya's agonizing cries only made Sakura's tears fall harder.

**To be continued . . . **

**Next time****: **_Chapter11: Identity Crisis _Everyone is in shock over the loss of Nakuru, but no one is taking it harder than Toya. Then the T.A.C.'s fears are realized when Sakura's identity is released to the public and she finds herself the center of media attention thanks to some up and coming news reporter! Controversial was one thing Sakura Kinomoto never thought she would be . . .

**A/N: **All I'm gonna say is that Nakuru is one of my _favorite _characters so I think I'm gonna go cry now ;_; Well, I guess I would call this the end of the 1st arc or season or whatever. I'm not sure the next arc will be quite as long, but I have about 7 chapter ideas as of right now so we'll see how it goes. Anyway please review and let me know what you think. As of right now this story has 956 hits and 28 reviews. If everybody reading this only reviewed once I should have WAY more than 28 so what the heck, guys? **I'm not even going to bother pushing myself to get the second arc going if you don't care enough to leave even a tiny comment**. So how long it takes for you all to see what happens next depends on how lazy you guys feel. I won't be lazy if you're not . . .

_**SakuraJade**_


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